'9 


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WESTWARD  EMPIRE; 


C|i  dr^Et  irama  of  f  umaii  f  rcijr^ss. 


,l.TrraOE  OP  "PEOVEEBS  FOE  THE  PEOPLE,"  "  EEFUBLICAN  OHEISTIANITT,"  "  0EAT0E8  OF 
THE  AMEEICAN  BEVOLTTTIOir,'"   "LIVING  0BAT0B8  IN  AMEEICA,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


Westward  tlie  course  of  empire  takes  its  way, 

The  four  first  acts  already  past  ; 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day, 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

Geoege  Beskeley. 


NEW  YOKK : 
HARPER   &  BROTHERS, 


oa, 


BY 


E.  L.  MAGOON, 


329  TO  335  PEARL  STREET. 


1856. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S56,  by 
HARPER  AND  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


TO  CITIZENS 
WHO    TRUST    12^  PROVIDENCE, 
MEN    WHO    ARE    TRUE    TO  HUMANITY, 
AND  PATRIOTS 
ALWAYS    HOPEFUL    OF    THE  REPUBLIC, 
THIS  WORK 
IS    FRATERNALLY  INSCRIBED. 


INTRODUCTION. 


By  a  natural  movement,  in  not  one  of  its  great  ele- 
ments has  civilization  gone  eastward  an  inch  since  au- 
thentic history  began.  To  demonstrate  this  simple  and 
comprehensive  fact  is  the  motive  of  the  following  work, 
and  all  the  great  leading  events  of  time  are  the  means 
employed.  Berkeley  has  suggested  a  grand  outline  in  his 
significant  stanza,  but  neither  he  nor  any  other  author 
has  hitherto  attempted  to  define  the  acts,  and  portray 
the  connected  scenes,  which  constitute  the  one  great  drama 
of  human  progress. 

Artistic  beauty,  martial  force,  scientific  invention,  and 
universal  amelioration,  have  thus  far  illustrated  the  great 
progressional  law  of  successive  predominance,  and  these, 
we  believe,  will  ultimately  be  consummated  in  the  supreme 
sway  of  perfect  civiHzation.  We  are  led  to  this  view  by 
taking  a  catholic  survey  of  every  nation  that  has  risen 
above  the  historical  horizon  ;  in  which  course  we  observe 
that  all  are  aUke  the  subjects  of  Providence,  each  in  its 
time  and  place  being  furnished  with  a  part  to  act,  and  a 
destiny  to  fulfill.  Considered  in  this  light,  it  may  be  rev- 
erently said  that  human  history  is  a  sacred  drama,  of 


vi 


I  N  T  E  O  D  U  C  T  I  O  X  . 


which  God  is  the  poet,  each  transitional  age  an  act,  hu- 
manity the  hero,  and  the  discriminating  annalist  a  pro- 
phetical interpreter. 

But  this  work  is  not  so  much  the  defense  of  a  theory  as 
it  is  the  display  of  facts,  and  the  deduction  of  a  general 
principle  consequent  thereupon.  The  travels  of  men,  and 
the  trade-currents  of  God,  move  spontaneously  and  per- 
petually toward  the  West.  The  opposite  direction  is 
always  "  down  East,''  while  all  healthful  expansion  and 
improvement  is  "out  West.''  The  great  eastern  turn- 
pike, canal,  or  railway,  was  never  built,  nor  has  a  great 
eastern  ship  yet  been  launched  on  the  deep.  If  the  un- 
natural name  has  of  late  been  given  to  a  colossal  craft, 
the  misnomer  is  indicated  by  the  fact,  that  her  first  trip 
is  appointed  to  be  a  western  one,  and  to  terminate  in  our 
most  eastern  harbor,  where  the  most  stupendous  develop- 
ment of  western  commerce  just  begins.  All  great  enter- 
prises by  land  and  by  sea  have  ever  commenced  in  the 
East,  and  augmented  both  their  efl&ciency  and  worth 
through  a  continuous  unfolding  toward  the  setting  sun. 
The  latest  race  is  evermore  the  best,  the  last  half  of  each 
great  age  is  most  prolific  in  progressive  elements,  and  the 
west  end  of  every  great  town  throughout  Europe  and 
America  is  the  growing  end. 

An  introduction  ought  to  stimulate  rational  curiosity, 
while  it  justifies  the  labors  of  the  author,  by  furnishing 
his  reader  with  a  succinct  programme  of  the  conditions  of 
the  subject.  We  consider  the  age  of  Pericles  to  have  ter- 
minated four  centuries  before,  and  that  of  Augustus  five 


I  N  T  K  O  D  U  C  T  1  O  N . 


vii 


centuries  after,  the  birth  of  Christ.  The  age  of  Leo  X. 
began  in  the  fifth  century,  mth  the  fall  of  the  Western 
Em]3ire,  and  ended  in  the  sixteenth,  soon  after  the  final 
downfall  of  the  East.  The  seventeenth  century  was  the 
great  era  of  colonial  empire,  and  then  began  the  age  of 
Washington.  It  is  not  man  but  God  who  has  thrown 
these  clear  lines  of  demarcation  over  the  entire  mass  of 
humanity,  as  innumerable  dates,  names,  and  events,  al- 
luded to  in  the  following  work  will  show.  Copious  refer- 
ences to  authorities  are  purposely  omitted,  as  we  wish  to 
render  the  pages  as  compact  as  possible  with  unbroken 
thought,  but  the  facts  themselves  can  easily  be  verified 
by  the  enlightened  reader,  or  confuted  if  they  are  incor- 
rect. 

The  service  we  herein  attempt  is  to  portray  the  relations 
of  the  present  to  the  past  and  future,  by  tracing  all  the 
mightiest  elements  of  our  civilization  to  their  respective 
sources,  and  by  indicating  the  antecedents  of  those  na- 
tional heroes  whose  names  shine  upon  the  forehead  of  our 
age,  and  whose  accumulated  productions  constitute  the 
grandest  inheritance  of  the  remotest  posterity.  The 
mighty  princes  of  literature  of  all  climes,  "  who  still  rule 
our  spirits  from  their  urns,"  are  summoned  into  stately 
procession,  followed  by  the  great  masters  of  art,  science, 
philosophy,  and  religion,  each  one  bearing  his  own  distinct 
physiognomy,  and  taking  precedence  in  historical  order. 
It  is  in  this  natural  course  that  we  would  mold  numerous 
and  diversified  materials  into  one  homogeneous  whole. 
The  work  is  an  abbreviated  nomenclature  of  celebrated 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION. 


personages  and  events,  a  bold  sketch  of  the  great  historical 
ages,  not  divided  according  to  arbitrary  chronological  dates, 
or  a  formal  geographical  plan,  but  embracing  all  authentic 
periods  in  their  indissoluble  continuity  of  development, 
illustrated  by  the  multifarious  monuments  which  it  has 
successively  produced  and  passed.  The  philosophy  of 
history  resides  not  in  isolated  events  and  detached  facts, 
but  flows  without  interruption  down  the  lapse  of  ages,  the 
accompaniment  of  human  destiny,  and  the  life  of  ennobling 
actions  ;  at  once  penetrating  all  incidents,  and  perpetuate 
ing  all  progress. 

In  the  present  undertaking,  the  author  proposes  in  gen- 
eral terms  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  various  master 
pieces  which  the  past  has  bequeathed,  rather  than  mi- 
nutely to  describe  their  authors,  or  criticise  their  merits. 
It  is  not  our  object  to  pronounce  a  judgment  upon  the 
characters  and  achievements  of  the  great  actors  on  the 
stage  we  survey,  but  simply  to  point  out  the  manifest 
unity  and  advancement  of  the  great  drama  as  it  proceeds. 
All  minute  details  are  omitted,  in  order  to  present  as  dis- 
tinctly as  possible  the  main  outlines.  As  we  contemplate 
the  vast  patrimony  of  knowledge,  whence  it  came,  and 
whither  it  leads,  we  watch  the  twilight  on  eastern  hills  as 
it  brightens  into  midday,  and  then  goes  flooding  over  the 
broad  expanse  of  the  West.  The  consecutive  series  of 
historical  events,  though  they  transpire  wide  apart,  and 
extend  through  a  long  lapse  of  ages,  are  never  absolutely 
separated,  but  in  the  presence  of  the  great  Father  are  in- 
timately joined  in  a  sublime  association,  and  mutually  co- 


INTRODUCTION 


operate  for  the  highest  good  of  the  greatest  number. 
Different  currents  may  seem  to  flow  from  the  most  diverse 
sources,  and  in  opposite  directions,  but  they  are  all  tribu- 
taries to  one  centralizing  channel,  wherein  flows  forward 
forever  the  accumulating  aggregate  of  human  fortunes, 
under  the  divine  control.  A  papal  decree  was  once  ob- 
tained condemning  Galileo's  doctrine  touching  the  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth ;  but  that  did  not  arrest  pre-ordained 
planetary  motion,  nor  prevent  all  sublunary  beings  from 
turning  with  it.  Fortunately  the  tide  of  improvement 
has  already  rolled  onward  so  far,  and  with  such  increased 
might,  that  Oxford  is  just  as  impotent  to  stay  the  amel- 
iorating progress  of  mankind  as  was  the  Vatican,  and  both 
must  advance  with  a  diviner  momentum,  or  be  out- 
stripped by  a  younger  competitor  in  the  heavenly  course. 

Without  an  intelligent  faith  in  the  divine  purpose  to 
incite  and  control  perpetual  progress  toward  the  perfection 
of  mankind,  history  is  an  insoluble  enigma,  a  huge  pile  of 
detached  fragments,  and  the  great  drama  of  humanity 
must  forever  remain  devoid  of  all  proper  results.  But 
even  Aristotle  expressed  a  worthier  view,  in  saying  that 
every  end  is  great ;  it  is  so,  because  it  forms  the  beginning 
of  something  greater.  In  nature,  nothing  actually  per- 
ishes. Death  is  birth,  and  the  dissolution  of  every  organ- 
ization is  but  the  development  and  visible  advancement 
of  a  fresher  type  of  being.  Naturally  every  substance  is 
conservative  of  all  the  vitality  it  can  possibly  sustain,  and 
when  any  given  form  apparently  perishes,  it  is  but  to  re- 
veal a  still  higher  life  that  lay  concealed  behind  it,  await- 

1* 


X 


INTRODUCTION. 


ing  the  moment  of  its  appointed  succession  to  power. 
Thus  decay  and  renewal  constitute  a  perpetual  struggle, 
identical  life  rising  through  multifarious  death  toward  the 
supreme  in  freedom  and  power.  In  proportion  to  the 
graduated  scale  of  existence,  lesser  or  greater,  lower  or 
higher,  this  law  applies  with  more  palpable  justness,  and 
is  best  exemplified  in  the  unpausing  progress  which  hu- 
manity makes  in  its  predetermined  career. 

In  tracing  the  evolution  of  those  laws  which  rule  in  the 
various  realms  of  simultaneous  growth,  we  see  that,  while 
all  are  connected,  and  always  act  upon  each  other,  some 
one  of  them,  for  the  time  being,  must  be  preponderant, 
in  order  to  impart  an  impulse  to  the  rest,  though,  in  its 
appointed  time,  another  may  be  called  to  succeed,  and  re- 
ceive superior  expansion.  It  is  that  which  develops  the 
most  advanced  nation  of  a  given  era,  and  constitutes  the 
moving  centre  of  progressive  civilization.  It  is  the  con- 
necting bond  and  quickening  impulse  of  those  heroes  who 
can  marshal  motives  as  well  as  armies,  and  make  the  grand- 
eur of  their  own  nationality  the  introduction  and  nutri- 
ment of  a  grander  nation  to  come.  The  vanguard  of  the 
human  race,  invested  with  and  impelled  by  this  indomita- 
ble energy,  moves  in  the  appointed  orbit,  losing  neither 
momentum  nor  effulgence  as  it  advances,  but  rather  in- 
creasing both.  If  we  inquire  as  to  the  area  and  agency 
of  the  chief  progression  in  the  domain  of  human  history, 
it  will  be  found  that  Japhet  has  been  the  constant  leader, 
Europe  the  intermediate  track,  and  America  the  manifest 
goal.    From  all  the  premises  furnished  by  experience,  and 


I  N  T  R  ()  D  U  (J  T  1  ()  N  . 


xi 


the  fullest  assurance  of  faith,  we  must  infer  that  this  con- 
tinent, ruled  by  the  Republic  upon  its  centre,  is  destined 
to  garner  the  selected  seed  from  antecedent  harvests,  that 
it  may  sow  world-wide  the  germs  of  ultimate  and  universal 
worth. 

Every  great  epoch  has  its  master  impulse,  which  acts  as 
the  precursor  of  a  yet  greater  one  to  succeed  it.  A  multi- 
tude of  hearts  may  throb  with  ardent  impatience,  and 
myriads  of  hands  may  be  ready  to  act,  but  not  one  profit- 
able pulsation  is  there,  nor  an  effective  achievement,  save 
as  the  actuating  soul  of  the  age  shall  animate  and  direct. 
All  great  revolutions  in  the  intellectual  world  are  marked 
by  successive  steps  of  generalization  and  transitions  into 
wider  realms  through  more  expanded  truths.  We  advance 
from  the  obscure  to  the  obvious,  from  single  facts  to  ho- 
mogeneous combinations,  and  from  particular  doctrines  to. 
an  all-comprehensive  system.  Nothing  that  does  not  re- 
late to  the  perpetual  progress  of  the  great  drama  of  divine 
Providence,  and  illustrate  it,  is  admitted  within  our  plan. 
With  the  whole  field  of  human  history  before  us,  we  are 
first  to  mark  the  most  prominent  features,  and  then  trace 
whatever  is  subordinate  and  auxiliary.  Four  mighty  land- 
marks rise  most  prominently  to  the  view,  around  which 
are  concentrated  all  the  beneficent  inventions  and  re- 
nowned names,  universally  admired  by  the  civilized  world. 
But,  though  supreme,  these  are  not  separate  from  inferior 
agents.  True,  the  chief  glory  of  an  age,  or  people,  seems 
to  be  the  work  of  a  few  leading  minds,  while  all  others  are 
transient  actors  on  the  stage.    But  each  epoch,  and  all 


xa 


I  N  T  R  O  D  U  C  T  I  0  N . 


connected  therewith,  is  a  unit,  indissolubly  joined  to  its 
successors,  in  the  formation  of  which  it  has  contributed  all 
the  primary  elements.  Every  subsequent  act  is  the  legit- 
imate evolution  of  its  predecessor,  and  from  prelude  to 
sequel,  there  is  but  one  symmetrical  development  of  an 
infinite  plan.  There  may  be  deep  and  dark  eddies  in  the 
stream,  and  even  long  reaches,  w^herein  the  current  seems 
to  assume  a  retrograde  course,  nevertheless  its  progress  is 
not  for  a  moment  arrested,  nor  does  it  ever  cease  from  in- 
numerable tributaries  evermore  to  augment  its  force.  The 
spring-head  we  may  not  discern,  but  the  main  channel  can 
be  clearly  traced  through  every  clime,  without  meeting 
with  whirlpools  completely  stationary,  or  depths  too  stag- 
nant for  some  lofty  use. 

Veritable  history  is  but  an  exj^onent  of  Providence,  a 
vivid  commentary  on  the  one  great  purpose  of  the  divine 
mind  in  the  work  of  redemption,  and  should  be  written,  as 
it  is  realized,  with  this  intent.  This  is  the  Ariadne  clew 
which  alone  can  guide  us  through  the  otherwise  inextrica- 
ble labyrinth.  We  need,  if  possible,  to  reproduce,  in  sub- 
dued outline,  the  comprehensive  political  and  ecclesiastical 
drama  which  the  Revela  tor  witnessed,  as  in  a  moving  pan- 
orama, reaching  from  the  beginning  of  sublunary  scenes 
to  their  end.  Such  would  be  the  portraiture  of  great 
men,  great  revolutions,  and  great  results,  illuminated  by 
the  one  glorious  purpose  of  the  great  God.  This  is  signal- 
ized not  only  in  always  providing  and  fitting  instruments 
for  each  emergency  that  may  arise,  but  in  subordinating 
all  agents,  and  the  causes  which  exercise  their  worth,  to 


INTRODUCTION. 


Xill 


the  perfection  of  humanity,  by  means  of  salutarj^  discipline. 
When  the  ancient  muses  inspired  Herodotus  to  write,  and 
the  genius  of  the  nation  prompted  him  to  recite  before 
assembled  Greece,  it  was  the  first  epical  announcement  of 
that  divine  poetry  which  forever  celebrates  the  destinies 
^of  our  race.  An  immensity  of  facts  has  since  been  added, 
and  innumerable  scenes  have  further  evolved  the  purposes 
of  the  Supreme  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  utmost  com- 
prehensiveness of  dramatic  delineation  is  requisite  to  give 
an  adequate  idea  of  tlie  ever  enlarging  orbits  of  development, 
through  which  ^humanity  has  already  passed,  together  with 
the  legitimate  unfoldings  which  a  yet  sublimer  future  will 
present.  This  highest  ideal  is  beyond  the  reach  of  epical 
representation,  and  is  of  all  unities  the  grandest  since  it 
considers  the  whole  human  race  as  one,  like  an  individual 
soul,  having  the  Infinite  as  the  beginning  and  end  of  its 
finite  existence. 

We  are  probably  in  near  neighborhood  to  inventions 
and  improvements  soon  to  eclipse  all  foregone  wonders. 
The  greatest  proficient  in  letters,  art,  or  science,  is  merely 
a  flugelman  in  the  army  of  knowledge,  and  if  called  to 
proclaim  the  miracle  of  to-day,  doubtless  he  will  be  further 
summoned  to  announce  the  reward  of  nocturnal  marchings, 
by  the  news  of  a  greater  miracle,  to-morrow.  Every  year 
finds  us  a  new  stadium  in  advance  ;  but  it  is  only  at  great 
culminating  eras  that  civilization  seems  to  become  aware 
of  the  actual  speed  of  its  reformatory  motion.  Victory 
alwa^^s  remains  with  the  new  spirit,  and  freedom,  like 
truth,  never  can  become  old  ;  they  are  in  God,  and  thereby 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  final  battle  and  widest  conquest  must  eventually  be 
secured.  Not  one  great  campaign  was  ever  lost  to  human- 
ity, nor  ever  will  be.  Every  historical  nation  bears  in  its 
bosom  the  germs  of  more  prolific  and  ennobling  fruits, 
which  their  successors  will  employ  to  subdue  and  adorn 
hardier  and  richer  fields.  The  scenery  changes  with  each 
act  performed,  but  the  plot  goes  steadily  forward.  Provi- 
dence is  making  the  tour  of  the  world,  and  every  new 
phase  of  civilization  is  an  additional  proof  of  a  divinely 
identical  plan.  As  the  age  to  come  shall  lapse  continu- 
ously upon  the  tombs  of  empires  and  genei-ations  of  man- 
kind, we  believe  that  this  era  will  not  descend  undistin- 
guished among  the  centuries  past.  The  present  march  of 
the  human  mind,  and  the  exalted  ends  it  has  in  view,  are 
so  remarkable,  that  the  period  of  our  existence  will  ever 
be  distinguished  in  the  esteem  of  those  who  will  come 
after  us.  From  the  past  and  the  present  a  glorious  future 
must  succeed.  We  may  most  reasonably  hope  that  the 
age  now  transpiring,  the  age  we  have  seen  born,  and  which 
will  see  us  buried,  will  transmit  to  our  children  and  their 
remotest  posterity,  increasing  virtues,  and  perpetually 
lessened  wrongs. 

Such,  in  fine,  is  the  profound  and  joyous  conviction  of 
the  author,  and  to  elucidate  which  has  been  consecrated  a 
considerable  portion  of  what  leisure  he  has  been  able  to 
command  during  the  past  seven  years.  Herein  will  not 
be  found  one  local  allusion,  or  envenomed  word,  designed 
to  wound  any  sect  or  section.  But,  with  one  absorbing 
purpose,  he  has  pressed  steadily  forward,  laying  all  avail- 


INTRODUCTION. 


XV 


able  resources  under  contribution,  to  show  how  each  ad- 
vancing epoch  recasts  the  history  of  the  past,  and  foreto- 
kens the  future,  in  contemplating  it  from  its  own  point 
of  view.  Let  us  fondly  hope  that,  on  the  side  of  the  globe 
opposite  to  the  first  Ararat,  shall  a  second  be  reached  by 
the  Ark  of  conservative  civilization,  whereon  human  rea- 
son and  divine  righteousness  will  repose  in  the  sublimest 
earthly  union,  and  thence  send  down  a  perfected  race  to 
propagate  their  virtues,  and  redeem  mankind. 

Elm. 

New  York,  July  4th,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST, 
AGE    OF  PERICLES. 

PAGE 

Chapter  I. — Literature   21 

IL— Art   48 

m.— SCIEXCE   11 

rV". — ^Philosophy   81 

Y. — Keligion   92 

PART  SECOND. 
AGE    OF  AUGUSTUS. 

Chapter  L— Literature   121 

II.  — Art   154 

III.  — Science   1'76 

IV.  — Philosophy   193 

v.— Religion   208 


xviii 


G  O  N  T  E  K  T  S . 


PART  THIRD. 
AOE    OF    LEO  X. 

PAGE 

Chapter  I. — Literature   231 

IL— Art   265 

III.— Science   292 

lY.— Philosophy  313 

V. — Religiox  '325 

PART  FOURTH. 
AGE     OF  WASHINGTON. 

Chapter  I. — Literature   347 

IL— Art  3t2 

III. — Science   388 

ly. — Philosophy   407 

v.— Religion   423 


PERICLES; 

OR, 

THE  AGE  OF  ARTISTIC  BEAUTY. 


PROLOGUE  OF  MOTTOES. 


"  Could  we  create  so  close,  tender,  and  cordial  a  connection  between  the 
citizens  of  a  state,  as  to  induce  all  to  consider  themselves  as  relatives — 
as  fathers,  brothers,  and  sisters,  then  this  whole  state  would  constitute  but  a 
single  family,  be  subjected  to  the  most  perfect  regulations,  and  become  the 
happiest  republic  that  ever  existed  upon  earth," — Plato. 

"Although  this  great  edifice  of  universal  history,  where  the  conclusion 
at  least  is  still  wanting,  is  in  this  respect  incomplete,  and  appears  but  a 
mighty  fragment  of  which  even  particular  parts  are  less  known  to  us  than 
others ;  yet  is  this  edifice  suflBciently  advanced,  and  many  of  its  great  wing& 
and  members  are  sufiBciently  unfolded  to  our  view,  to  enable  us,  by  a  lucid 
arrangement  of  the  different  periods  of  history,  to  gain  a  clear  insight  into 
the  general  plan  of  the  whole." — ^Frederic  Yon  Schlegel. 

"  Whatever  is  necessary  exists." — ^De  Maistre. 

"  God  shall  enlarge  Japhet,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem." — 
Genesis  ix.  21. 


PART  FIRST. 

PERICLES.— AGE  OF  ARTISTIC  BEAUTY. 


CHAPTER  1. 

LITERATURE. 

Civilization  is  earth's  central  stream,  and  all  literatures,  arts, 
sciences,  philosophies,  and  rehgions  are  but  tributaries  to  swell  its 
tide  and  increase  its  current.  To  indicate  the  successive  sources, 
describe  the  multiform  elements,  and  demonstrate  the  progressive 
aggregation  and  enrichment  of  this  unity  in  diversity,  is  the  object 
of  the  present  work. 

Much  patient  and  critical  research  will  be  requisite  at  each  re- 
move, but  the  chief  difficulty  lies  at  the  threshold  of  the  under- 
taking. When  and  with  what  does  authentic  history,  illustrated 
through  human  progress,  begin  ?  Geography,  ethnology,  and  phi- 
lology must  be  our  chief  oracles  in  reply. 

Western  Asia  was  doubtless  the  cradle  of  the  earliest  civilized 
communities,  and  the  source  of  all  authentic  improvement.  Mount 
Kylas  gave  the  term  koilon,  heaven,  to  the  Greeks,  and  is  probably 
the  highest  eminence  on- earth.  Moorcroft  viewed  it  from  a  table- 
land more  than  seventeen  thousand  feet  high,  and  describes  its  sides 
and  craggy  summits  of  still  more  tremendous  altitude,  apparently 
covered  thickly  vdth  snow.  At  its  base  emerges  the  Indus,  that 
mighty  artery  of  western  India,  on  the  bank  of  which  stands  Attac, 
a  name  which  the  great  civilizing  race  afterward  applied  to  the 
fairest  realm  of  their  culture.  Standing  at  this  fountain-head,  we 
find  increased  facilities  for  striking  out  the  great  historico-geograph- 
ical  outline  which  marks  the  progress  of  the  patriarch  bands  of 
India,  Egypt,  and  Europe.    The  intimate  connection  between  the 


22 


PERICLES. 


Nilitic  valley,  Greece,  and  the  lands  of  tlie  Indus,  is  rendered  yet 
more  evident  by  the  geographical  development  of  the  colonization 
of  eastern  Europe,  in  which  the  ingenious  people  of  Abu-Sin,  Abys- 
sinians,  founded  the  mercantile  and  prosperous  community  of  Cor- 
inthus.  Cor-Indus,  that  is,  mouth  of  the  Indus,  canied  westward, 
became  the  classical  Corinth.  The  distance  from  the  Indian  shore 
was  not  so  great  but  that  the  sail  which  spread  for  Ceylon  could 
waft  to  the  Red  Sea,  where  the  fleets  of  Tyre,  of  Solomon  and  of 
Hiram  were  to  be  found.  The  ancient  Institutes  of  Menu  expressly 
refer  to  merchants  who  traffic  beyond  sea ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
Hindoos  were  westward  navigators  from  the  earliest  ages,  the  ves- 
tiges of  their  religion  in  the  Archipelago  abundantly  attest.  From 
the  same  lofty  regions  descended  the  Parasoos,  that  is,  warriors  of 
the  Axe,  to  penetrate  and  give  name  to  Persia,  while  Colchis  and 
Armenia  became  as  distinctly  the  product  and  proof  of  Indian  col- 
onization. Down  this  central  route  came  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of 
the  first  great  civilizing  nations,  making  the  whole  mass  of  authentic 
geography  a  venerable  journal  of  emigration  on  the  most  gigantic 
scale. 

Let  us  now  briefly  consider  the  progressive  changes  which  have 
passed  upon  this  great  geographical  chart  of  historical  development, 
and  observe  their  effects.  Successive  tribes  of  living  beings  have 
perished  thereon,  and  been  replaced  with  better  and  nobler  races, 
until  at  last  man  came  to  be  lord  of  earth,  and  to  reap  from  it  all 
the  enjoyments  increasing  culture  could  bestow.  From  the  begin- 
ning, progi'ess  has  been  maintained  in  and  through  convulsions, 
each  succeeding  tempest  alternating  with  a  subhmer  calm.  Rely- 
ing on  human  traditions  alone,  we  can  acquaint  ourselves  with  no 
primary  people,  no  first  seat  of  civilization,  no  original  philosophy, 
or  natural  wisdom.  Guided  by  a  higher  authority,  it  is  necessary 
to  penetrate  the  intervening  mists  of  symbolical  fables,  and  collect 
numerous  scientific  facts,  in  order  to  attain  secure  ground,  whereon 
the  first  germ  of  humanity  was  planted,  and  whence  it  has  perpet- 
ually developed  itself  under  the  control  of  unfaltering  law.  At  the 
farthest  horizon  of  the  most  venerable  antiquity,  several  light  points 
appear,  the  harbingers  of  civilization,  radiating  toward  each  other^ 
and  indicating  a  common  point  of  union  in  the  darkness  behind. 
They  resemble  the  superior  lights  among  the  stars  of  the  firmament, 


LITERATURE. 


28 


whose  brightness  we  perceive  amid  the  eternal  suns  of  the  universe, 
but  whose  relative  distances  from  our  own  planet  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain.  The  dwelling  of  a  divine  spark  in  the  human  bosom 
has,  even  from  the  obscurest  height  of  Caucasus,  been  recognized 
in  the  beautiful  tradition  of  Pi'ometheus ;  but  the  question  of  the 
first  springing  up  of  mankind  can  not  be  fully  elucidated  by  mere 
antiquarian  research.  In  the  last  result,  that  is  a  matter  to  be  left 
to  the  disclosures  of  revelation  and  the  exercise  of  faith. 

The  Mosaic  narrative  of  creation  is  the  primitive  document  of 
our  race,  and  this  commemorates  the  repeated  convulsions  and  pro- 
digious corruption  of  the  world,  previous  to  the  Noachian  flood. 
Of  the  earliest  period,  it  says :  "  The  earth  was  without  form,  and 
void ;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep  :  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  Gen.  i.  2.  Of  post- 
diluvian history,  every  thing  was  embraced  in  that  last  recorded 
fact  of  I^oah's  life,  a  prophecy  delivered  in  the  infancy  of  mankind, 
and  which  every  succeeding  development  has  only  tended  to  illus- 
trate and  confirm.  Gen.  ix.  18,  19 — "  The  sons  of  Noah  that  went 
forth  from  the  ark,  were  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth.  These  are  the 
three  sons  of  N^oah,  and  of  them  was  the  whole  (inhabited)  earth 
overspread."  On  these  three  races  distinct  destinies  were  pro- 
nounced, they  receiving  a  moral  and  physical  nature  accordant 
to  their  several  allotments.  The  ofiice  of  extension  was  given  to 
Japhet,  that  of  religion  to  Shem,  and  servitude  to  Ham. 

Ethnology,  the  science  of  nations,  in  its  most  recent  and  profound 
deductions,  differs  somewhat  in  detail,  but  the  great  conclusion  is 
the  same.  The  threefold  branches  radiate  from  a  common  stock, 
and  in  their  growth  from  east  to  w^est,  they  mark  the  high  road  of 
universal  progress,  and  adorn  the  stage  on  which  the  entire  drama 
of  ancient  history  has  been  performed.  The  prediction  of  Noah  is 
the  record  of  human  destiny,  and  has  been  subjected  to  the  severest 
test.  Material  vestiges  of  creation,  and  the  earliest  monuments  of 
mind,  alike  place  the  origin  of  man  in  the  central  East.  The  peo  - 
ple of  the  Brahmins  come  down  from  the  Hindo-Khu  into  the 
plains  of  the  Indus  and  the  Ganges ;  Assyria  and  Bactriana  receive 
their  inhabitants  from  the  high  lands  of  Armenia  and  Persia. 
Those  nations  advance  rapidly,  and,  in  the  remotest  antiquity,  at- 
tained a  degree  of  culture  of  which  the  temples  and  monuments  of 


24 


PERICLES. 


Egypt  and  India,  together  with  the  palaces  of  Nineveh,  are  glorious 
witnesses.  As  the  basis  of  preliminary  improvement,  they  rapidly 
developed  to  a  degree,  then  movement  was  stayed,  and  thenceforth 
their  stationary  remains  mark  the  oriental  boundary  of  the  historic 
race.  Ethnology  testifies  that  Ham  peopled  Egypt,  and  that  the 
primary  emigration  thither  from  Asia  may  have  been  ante-Noachian. 
The  native  name  of  Egypt  is  Chami,  the  black ;  and  this  fact  is 
sjonbolically  represented  by  the  name  of  its  predestined  ancestor, 
Cham,  Shem's  eldest  brother,  Japhet  being  the  youngest  of  the 
three.  When  the  comprehensive  fortunes  of  the  triple  founders  of 
our  race  were  foretold,  Shem  was  called  the  elder  brother  of  Ja- 
phet, but  not  of  Ham.  Gen.  x.  32 — "By  these  were  the  nations 
divided  after  the  flood."  Thus  the  great  middle  country  in  west- 
ern Asia  is  the  central  point  of  the  general  view.  On  the  south, 
the  race  of  Ham  includes  degenerate  Egypt,  and  all  the  sombre 
African  tribes  beyond.  In  the  north  Caucasian  regions,  the  race 
of  Japhet  spread  widely ;  and  in  central  Asia  the  race  of  Shem. 
These  general  positions  have  been  proved  by  the  ethnologists, 
Pritchard  and  Bunsen,  and  are  confirmed  by  the  most  reliable 
archaeologists,  as  well  as  by  the  leading  physiologists  of  the  world, 
Morton,  Cuvier,  and  Blumenbach. 

But  we  will  pass  to  the  third  and  most  copious  means  of  demon- 
stration, philology.  It  is  believed  that  a  furious  religious  war,  long 
anterior  to  the  historic  Shem,  drove  a  large  multitude  of  oriental 
inhabitants  westward,  and  that  these  became  the  primary  stratum 
of  European  humanity,  afterward  superseded  by  the  Japhetic  race, 
wherever  the  germs  of  true  history  took  root.  The  nanies  given 
by  the  Pelasgi  to  the  chief  mountains  of  Greece,  as  well  as  the 
name  itself  of  that  mysterious  people,  point  to  an  emigration  from 
India,  whence  a  twofold  stream  of  emigration  seems  to  have  flowed. 
We  have  alluded  above  to  the  one  which,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  semi-historic  Shem,  passed  through  Persia  and  northern  Arabia 
into  Egypt,  and  adjoined  the  unhistoric  Ham.  At  a  later  period, 
whatever  of  excellence  that  transition  realm  developed  passed  into 
southern  Greece.  The  other  current,  the  grandest  and  most  pro- 
lific of  all,  passed  through  Persia,  along  the  Caspian  sea,  over 
mount  Caucasus,  and  thence  through  Thrace  direct  to  northern 
Greece.    The  productive  tribes,  at  their  first  appearance  on  the 


LITER  AT  UKE. 


25 


horizon,  enter  upon  the  prospective  stage  with  the  elements  of  lan- 
guage, and  with  this  fundamental  power  eliminated  for  their  use, 
they  were  formed  into  the  social  compact  of  progressive  humanity. 

The  earliest  inventors  of  the  glorious  art  of  writing  deserve  the 
most  grateful  regard.  The  search  after  them,  and  their  several 
stages  of  discovery,  tends  to  strengthen  the  view  held  by  many, 
that  the  common  chronology  of  history  embraces  too  limited  a 
period ;  and  that  hoary  India,  at  an  era  anterior  to  human  record, 
originated  the  first  pictorial  system  and  communicated  it  to  the 
Chinese,  whose  records  attribute  their  mode  of  writing  to  a  foreign 
source.  But  the  yellow  races  of  the  far  East  are  destined  to  remain 
still  in  the  dawn  :  the  sun  of  civilization  has  never  risen  suflSciently 
high  above  them  to  give  vital  growth  to  any  product  they  have 
either  invented  or  received.  But  the  old  emigrants  of  Egypt  soon 
reduced  their  pictorial  language  to  rough  hieroglyphic  outlines,  and 
then  to  signs  yet  more  approximating  sounds,  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  European  alphabets. 

Assyria,  Babylonia,  and  Persia,  have  left  us  no  specimens  of  their 
writing,  aside  from  the  dubious  carvings  upon  the  lofty  rocks  of 
Asia.  But  this  "handwriting  upon  the  wall,"  so  long  ago  inter- 
preted by  the  prophet  Daniel,  is  now  laid  open  to  general  compre- 
hension, through  Layard  and  Rawlinson,  as  a  most  important  link 
in  the  philological  chain.  It  was  indeed  strange  that  when  the 
Egj^tians  had  broken  down  the  thin  partition  which  separated 
them  from  phonetic  language,  their  last  monuments  should  exhibit 
no  nearer  approach  to  it  than  the  first.  The  cuneiform  inscriptions 
of  Assyria  render  the  order  of  progression  perfect,  connecting  the 
later  achievements  in  literary  research  with  the  previous  triumphs 
of  Young  and  Champollion.  We  discover  syllables  at  length  ;  and 
if  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  we  found  a  full  grown  adult,  but  impo- 
tent and  out  of  the  way,  we  meet,  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
with  a  vigorous  child,  yet  imperfect  certainly,  but  actually  advanc- 
ing, and  in  the  right  path.  Leaving  the  cumbrous  and  astute  para- 
phernalia of  pictorial  and  symbolic  characters,  the  speaking  signs 
passed  from  the  arrow-points  of  Assyria  into  the  flexile  and  immor- 
tal worth  of  the  Phoenician  alphabet.  As  soon  as  this  invention 
had  been  planted  in  a  neighboring  state,  the  alphabetic  system  was 
appropriated  by  the  great  leader  of  the  Hebrews,  when  they  re- 

2 


26 


PERICLES. 


turned  to  the  land  of  their  fathers,  and  became  neighbors  to  the 
Phoenicians.  Certain  modifications  supervened,  adapted  to  their 
political  and  religious  institutions ;  but  the  original  names  of  the 
signs  which  constitute  the  Hebrew  alj^habet,  strikingly  prove  their 
derivation  from  a  hieroglyphic  system,  and  indicate  clearly  a  pic- 
toiial  origin.  Moreover,  the  first  allusion  to  writing  in  the  books 
of  Moses  is  to  tjie  tablets  of  stone,  "  after  the  manner  of  a  signet," 
by  which  we  may  understand  engraved  writing,  like  that  of  the 
Assyrian  cylinders,  or  scales. 

If  the  Shemitic  tongues  exhibit  undeniable  proof  of  their  being 
derived  from  the  western  part  of  central  Asia,  the  Indo-European 
languages  present  no  less  evidence  of  the  gradual  extension  of  these 
races  from  the  eastern  part.  The  Shemitic  tribes  never  extended 
into  Europe,  except  by  temporary  excursions.  With  the  exception 
of  Armenia,  they  have  not  lost  ground  in  Asia,  and  have,  from  the 
beginning,  peneti*ated  into  Africa,  where  no  traces  of  Japhetic  ori- 
gin are  discernible.  Of  Shem,  the  Arabic,  Aramaic,  and  Hebrew 
are  the  three  great  monuments.  Japhet  nationalized  the  Sanscrit, 
Persian,  and  Greek,  with  all  their  descendants,  the  languages  of 
beauty,  power  and  progress  everywhere. 

In  early  Greece,  a  purely  Egyptian  element  was  planted  by 
Cecrops,  a  native  of  Sais,  in  the  Delta,  but  whether  he  was  a  native 
Copt  does  not  appear.  He  migrated  b.c.  about  1550,  and  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  the  Pelasgi,  so  it  is  not  hkely  he  introduced  any 
of  his  own  language.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  colonist  Da- 
naus  and  his  family,  though  he,  as  brother  of  the  king  Sesostris, 
was  doubtless  of  unmingled  Egyptian  race.  A  much  stronger  ele- 
ment must  be  accounted  for  in  the  Phoenician  immigration  of  Cad- 
mus, and  the  constant  intercourse  kept  up  by  that  people  with  con- 
tinental Greece.  Crete  should  be  regarded  as  the  stepping-stone 
on  the  auspicious  high  way,  the  first  amalgam  wherein  Egyptian, 
Pelasgic,  and  Phoenician  ci^yilization  mingled,  and,  when  properly 
blended,  was  transferred  to  the  main  land.  Then  came  the  purely 
Japhetic  element,  and  gave  tone  and  character  to  all.  That  great 
genius  of  Hellas,  whose  name  has  perished  like  that  of  the  inventor 
of  the  plow,  but  who  lives  enshrined  in  the  most  intellectual  of 
all  monuments,  worked  upon  this  eastern  element  as  he  did  upon 
every  other  capability  submitted  to  his  inventive  and  intellectualiz- 


LITERATURE.  27 
» 

ing  power.  He  rendered  tlie  limited  alphabet  of  Shem  universal, 
eliminating  the  signs  for  harsh,  guttural  sounds,  and  by  preserving 
those  which  were  rejected,  in  the  series  of  the  numerals.  The 
twenty-two  letters  of  Shem  became  the  twenty-four  of  Japhet,  and 
thus,  by  their  combined  energies,  a  philosophical  alphabet  was  pro- 
duced, at  once  the  aggregate  of  all  Asiatic  idioms,  and  the  guar- 
anty of  all  European  culture.  It  was  the  receiver  and  transmitter 
of  the  most  noble  treasures  ever  garnered  in  the  realms  of  intellect 
and  emotion,  a  pure  medium  for  the  investigating  faculty  of  the 
senses,  as  well  as  the  mightiest  weapon  for  the  plastic  and  vitaliz- 
ing power  of  imagination,  the  Greeks  ever  possessed,  and  which 
imperishable  heritage  they  have  left  as  the  richest  gift  to  coming 
generations. 

During  thrice  ten  centuries  of  the  early  world,  the  various  orien- 
tal nations  followed  in  their  development  an  isolated  course ;  and 
two  vast  peoples,  the  Chinese  and  Indians,  have  remained  to  this 
day  in  a  totally  sequestered  state.  They  are  in  the  same  condition 
of  immobility  now,  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  historical  nations, 
that  is  to  say,  only  six,  or  at  most  seven  centuries  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  Still,  India,  with  its  philosophy  and  myths,  its  literature 
and  laws,  is  worthy  of  special  study,  as  it  presents  a  page  of  the 
primitive  annals  of  the  world.  But  before  the  brilliant  rays  of  the 
East  streamed  toward  us  from  Hellenic  sources,  every  thing  seemed 
obscure — as  to  an  explorer  of  the  majestic  tombs  of  Egypt,  the 
farther  he  advances  within,  the  more  is  he  deserted  by  light.  The 
first  reliable  guide  we  meet,  is  the  art  of  writing ;  and  this,  so  far 
from  being  an  invention  of  recent  times,  reaches  back  to  the  most 
venerable  antiquity.  The  only  key  to  an  understanding  of  the 
literature  of  Media  and  Persia,  and  in  some  respects  of  Greece,  is 
furnished  by  the  languages  of  India,  and  especially  by  that  pre- 
served in  the  hymns  of  the  Veda,  some  of  which  ascend  to  the 
remote  era  of  b.  c.  2448.  A  claim  to  antiquity  so  great  would 
appear  incredible,  were  it  not  sustained  beyond  a  doubt  by  the 
Assyrian  remains  recently  exhumed.  Like  the  region  of  its  origin, 
Sanscrit  literature  is  perfectly  anomalous,  and  bears  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  extinct  relics  of  that  vast  area  over  which  it 
passed,  to  become  the  parent  of  all  those  dialects  which  in  Europe 
are  called  classical. 


28  PERICLES. 

• 

Escaping  from  the  mummified  civilization  of  Egypt  and  the 
inflexible  East,  we  strike  more  boldly  into  the  high  road  of  all  im- 
provement, and  observe  how  rapidly  power  of  every  kind  passes 
from  Shem  to  the  irresistible  Japhet.  The  continuous  stream  of 
humanity  moves  clearly  and  with  increased  speed  through  a  new 
and  broader  channel.  As  Shem  was  employed  to  introduce  all 
religions  on  earth,  so  is  he  made  to  perform  the  most  prominent 
part  in  the  theological  culture  of  mankind.  But  conscious  specu- 
lation, elegant  letters,  and  beautifying  art  all  belong  to  the  younger 
Japhet,  whose  heroes  are  Hellenes,  and  whose  mag-nificent  progeny 
are  the  myriad  multitudes  of  the  entire  Indo-Germanic  stock. 

Thus,  by  the  light  of  linguistic  research,  we  descend  from  the 
exalted  cradle  of  the  human  race  to  the  prepared  field  of  their 
first  grand  development.  As  we  approximate  the  sphere  wherein 
all  faculties  are  free,  and  each  element  of  excellence  soars  rapidly 
to  its  culminating  height,  a  historical  unity  becomes  manifest  in 
language,  wisdom,  arts,  sciences,  and  the  most  comprehensive  civih- 
zation.  These  innumerable  facts  are  no  patch-work  of  incoherent 
fragments,  no  chance  rivulets  flowing  in  isolated  beds,  but  tributa- 
ries to  one  uninterrupted  current,  correlative  proofs  of  one  and  the 
same  grand  development.  Language,  the  last  struggle  of  the  ago- 
nized age  of  Ham,  the  first  triumph  of  the  reason  of  Shem,  was 
the  magnificent  medium  perfected  by  Japhet,  and  through  which, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Periclean  age,  universal  man  might  see 
all  his  glories  simultaneously  revealed.  Five  hundred  years  before 
the  Christian  era,  all  nationalities  east  of  Athens  had  perished ;  then 
and  there,  in  consummate  literature,  we  behold  God's  vanguard  on 
earth.    To  the  Hellenes,  the  beautiful  of  every  type  was  revealed. 

In  fullness,  exactness,  flexibility  and  grace,  the  Greek  language 
surpasses  all  other  linguistic  forms,  and  remains  the  first  great 
masterpiece  of  the  classic  world.  As  we  watch  the  growth  of  a 
tender  exotic  plant,  gradually  removed  to  a  higher  latitude,  and  at 
each  stage  of  its  matured  beauty  experience  fresh  joy,  so  the  phi- 
lologist watches  the  tender  shoot  of  the  first  European  tongue  as  it 
unfolds  under  the  mild  skies  of  Ionia,  passes  to  the  isles  of  the 
JEgean,  and  finally  strikes  its  strong  roots  in  fruitful  Attica.  In 
infancy,  it  was  redolent  with  the  fragrance  of  festive  song ;  in  ma- 
turity it  scattered  abroad  priceless  worth  in  every  style  of  litera- 


LITERATURE. 


29 


ture,  art,  science  and  philosophy ;  till  at  last,  touched  by  the  hand 
of  despotism,  its  living  beauty  faded,  but  even  in  death,  like  Mc- 
dora,  is  still  invested  with  the  lingering  charms  of  youth. 

Literature,  as  we  design  to  use  the  term,  embraces  all  those  men- 
tal exertions  which  relate  to  man  and  his  welfare  ;  but  which,  in 
their  most  refined  form,  display  intellect  as  embodied  in  written 
thought.  The  first  great  original  was  produced  by  the  Greeks.  It 
is  true  they  received  their  alphabet  and  many  imperfect  elements 
from  the  Asiatic  nations,  but  the  perfected  whole  of  a  national  litera- 
ture was  doubtless  their  own.  The  Shemite  could  even  excel  in 
the  primitive  strains  of  poetry,  but  the  restrictive  power  of  local 
attachments  rendered  him  incapable  of  producing  any  more  regu- 
lar form.  That  vivid  combination  of  lyric  beauty  and  epic  might, 
the  drama,  which  constitutes  a  complete  representation  of  national 
destinies,  was  entirely  unknown  to  him.  The  "  Song  of  Solomon," 
which  best  represents  the  mental  character  of  that  race,  shows  that 
however  near  the  Hebrew  mind  in  its  zenith,  might  approach  the 
higher  forms  of  art,  it  could  not  go  beyond  the  ode.  Though  the 
elements  of  all  literature,  art  and  science  existed  in  the  east,  Se- 
sostris  of  the  old  empire  was  obliged  to  borrow  from  Japhetic  in- 
ventors, as  Solomon  and  Hiram  did. 

The  geographical  position  of  Athens  is  worthy  of  notice.  In 
the  march  of  civilization  from  east  to  west,  she  stood  nearly  mid- 
way, and  extended  her  open  palm  to  receive  and  impart  the  physi- 
cal and  intellectual  wealth  of  nations.  Her  people  united  the  hardi- 
hood of  the  mountaineer  with  the  elasticity  of  maritime  tribes,  and 
never  had  a  country  of  such  diversified  physical  qualities,  elicited 
such  varied  excellences  of  mind.  We  look  in  vain  for  like  eflfects 
among  the  colossal  monarchies  from  which  the  colonists  had  been 
sifted,  and  are  led  in  wonder  to  contrast  the  smallness  of  the  coun- 
try with  the  wealth  of  its  products.  Ranging  from  Olympus  on 
the  north,  to  Psenarus,  her  southern  headland,  Greece  extended  but 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles ;  while  two  thirds  of  that  distance 
would  conduct  the  traveler  from  the  temple  of  Minerva,  on  the 
eastern  promontory  of  Sunium,  to  Leucadia  her  western  extreme. 
But  if  the  superfices  of  that  area  were  insignificant,  whereon  the 
dragon  teeth  were  sown,  prolific  of  all  inland  fruitfulness,  its  coasts 
were  rich  in  harbors,  from  one  of  which  the  Ai'gonauts  embarked 


30 


PERICLES. 


on  their  romantic  voyage,  followed  in  succeeding  ages  by  numerous 
larger  expeditions  in  successful  search  after  golden  gains.  The 
small  but  glorious  land  of  Hellas  lay  within  the  line  of  beauty, 
by  which,  from  the  first,  the  uncouth  barbarian  was  separated  from 
the  graceful  Greek.  Coincident  with  the  happy  period  of  the  po- 
litical history  of  that  land,  all  her  mental  glories  occupy  no  greater 
space  than  the  three  centuries  which  intervened  between  Solon  and 
Alexander,  having  Pericles  for  the  culminating  point. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  fullness  of  invention  should  precede  the 
refinement  of  art,  legend  before  history,  and  poetry  before  criti- 
cism. A  long  period  of  traditionary  wealth  existed  between  the 
Trojan  war  and  the  arts  of  peace,  upon  which  the  plastic  spirit  of 
Greece  breathed  an  energizing  originality  and  independence,  creat- 
ing the  variety,  beauty,  and  immortality  of  unrivaled  works.  The 
Hellenic  race,  children  of  the  beautiful,  became  veritably  a  nation, 
in  expressing  the  first  great  idea  of  earth,  beauty.  This  entered 
into  all  the  elements  which  composed  their  interior  life,  as  well  as 
outward  expressions,  and  stamped  upon  all  departments  a  distinct 
physiognomy.  Uncounted  millions  had  roamed  the  wilds  of  Africa 
and  Asia,  of  whom  history  takes  no  account,  because  they  matured 
no  idea ;  but  the  true  dawn  of  improvement  began  at  length  to 
appear,  and  representative  individuals  stood  forth  as  the  aggregate 
of  anterior  worth  and  progenitors  of  prospective  glories.  A  great 
age  was  easily  read  in  a  few  resplendent  proper  names. 

Pericles  was  the  exactest  symbol  of  his  age,  his  character  its  pro- 
duct, and  his  career  its  historian.  His  advent  marked  the  close  of 
a  heroic  period  in  the  sudden  meridian  of  fascinating  civilization. 
For  forty  years  he  was  the  ruling  genius  of  that  glorious  city 
which  it  was  the  ambition  of  his  life  to  adorn  for  exhibition,  and 
crown  for  command.  Each  individuality  fashioned  by  Homer,  ex- 
pressed some  distinct  quality  of  heroic  power,  and  thereby  repre- 
sents a  separate  class.  Grace  characterizes  Nereus,  dignity  Aga- 
memnon, impetuosity  Hector,  massiveness  the  unswerving  prowess 
of  the  greater,  and  velocity  the  lesser  Ajax ;  perseverance  Ulysses, 
and  intrepidity  Diomede  ;  but  in  Achilles  alone,  all  these  emana- 
tions of  energy  and  elegance,  mingle  and  are  combined  in  one 
splendid  whole.  And  so  the  susceptible  intellect  of  Pericles  pre- 
cipitated the  world  of  beauty  held  in  suspense  at  the  period  of  his 


LITEEATURE. 


31 


birth,  and  laid  every  element  under  contribution  to  nourish  his 
predilections,  supply  his  resources,  and  consummate  the  multifa- 
rious splendors  which  forever  glorify  the  culmination  of  his  power. 
Democratic  freedom  had  inspired  lyric  melody,  epic  grandeur,  and 
dramatic  force  :  that  music  of  painting,  and  sculpture  of  poetry. 
Tragedy  was  exclusively  created  by  the  Athenian  mind,  and  joined 
all  the  other  great  masterpieces  of  human  excellence  as  they  gath- 
^ed  in  the  order  of  perfection  round  the  Parthenon.  With  the 
epos  and  di'ama  came  the  harbingers  of  philosophical  history,  and 
historical  philosophy.  At  the  feet  of  Minerva,  on  the  magnificat 
terrace  of  the  Acropolis,  as  in  the  Portico,  Lyceum,  or  Garden,  the 
Japhetic  thinker  sat  in  masterly  scrutiny  over  the  greatest  mystery, 
the  mycrocosm  man,  and  his  eternal  destiny.  Dignified  achieve- 
ments had  given  rise  to  historic  literature,  ethical  disquisition  re- 
quired elaborate  rhetoric,  political  debate  in  the  midst  of  inflamed 
parties  necessitated  persuasive  speech,  and  Pericles  arose  the  master 
of  every  art.  Like  the  golden  lamp,  which  the  exquisite  skill  ot 
Callimachus  hung  in  the  national  temple,  and  which  was  fed  once 
a  year,  the  great  Athenian  saw  kindled  in  his  age  a  pharos  of  lit- 
erary splendor  which  v/ill  be  the  genial  guide  and  model  of  all 
masters  so  long  as  time  shall  last.  Then  did  thought  begin  to  throb 
and  glow  with  ardent  aspirations.  Indian,  Egyptian,  and  Persian 
works  only  attest  man's  power  over  the  dullness  of  materialism ; 
but  Greece  demonstrated  his  sovereignty  over  the  might  of  intel- 
lect. The  East  was  grand,  impressive,  awful ;  this  fair  metropolis 
of  the  West  as  infinitely  better  than  all  that,  she  was  beautiful. 
In  Athens  was  exhibited  more  than  power,  or  genius  coarse  and 
unfettered  by  the  instincts  of  elegant  taste ;  her  ornaments  were 
pure,  her  magnificence  serene.  For  grace,  symmetry,  and  loveli- 
ness, we  must  look  for  the  best  models  amongst  that  wonderful 
people  who  still  remain  in  the  great  past,  a  centre  of  literary  glory 
above  all  competition;  from  whose  poets  we  derive  our  best  ideas 
of  the  beautiful  and  sublime ;  from  whose  artists  we  copy  the  eter- 
nal rules  of  taste ;  and  from  whose  orators  we  catch  the  high  pas- 
sions which  most  thrill  the  human  breast.  Such,  in  general  terms, 
was  the  age  when  Pericles  ruled  in  the  first  of  cities,  not  by  the 
«]iegrading  arms  of  mercenaries,  but  through  the  magical  influence 
of  genius  and  talent. 


32 


PERICLES. 


From  this  comprehensive  survey,  let  us  descend  to  a  more  spe- 
cific notice  of  the  superior  luminaries  in  that  great  constellation, 
as  each  shines  in  his  appropriate  sphere.  And  first  of  all,  let 
us  contemplate  the  blind  old  minstrel  we  dreamed  of  in  our  child- 
hood, who  sang  on  his  way  six  and  twenty  centuries  ago,  and  his 
songs  are  echoing  to  the  nations  with  unrivaled  enchantment  still. 

Homer  was  the  encyclopaedia  of  civilization  in  his  time.  He 
fertilized  antiquity  to  such  an  overflowing  extent,  that  all  the  parent 
geniuses  were  recognized  as  his  children,  and  the  richest  harvests 
ever  garnered,  were  accredited  to  the  seed  he  had  sown.  The  epic 
of  his  creation,  mirrored  traditionary  history  in  transparent  song. 
The  minute  was  depicted,  the  grand  illuminated,  and  all  the  glori- 
ous world  of  heroic  character  and  romantic  scenery  moved  past 
the  spectator  in  serene  dignity  and  poetic  splendor.  The  highest 
utterance  was  requisite  to  embody  the  intensest  conceptions,  and  the 
Ionic  dialect  was  exactly  fitted  to  both.  Language  is  the  indi- 
vidual existence  of  a  national  spirit,  the  external  reason,  as  reason 
is  the  internal  speech ;  and  the  purest  of  idioms  sprang  perfected 
from  the  hps  of  Homer,  as  Minerva  came  completely  armed  from 
the  brow  of  Jove.  The  hexameter  therein  assumed  the  freest  and 
most  forcible  movement  possible  within  the  limits  of  law,  and 
thenceforth  epic  composition  ever  remained  Ionic  in  language, 
measure,  and  melody.  Looking  back  upon  the  succeeding  age,  and 
its  grateful  enthusiasm,  we  need  not  wonder  that  a  tyi'ant  lived  in 
the  afiection,  and  died  under  the  benediction  of  Greece,  for  collect- 
ing the  works  of  Homer  in  a  volume,  and  his  ashes  in  an  urn. 

The  epic  and  cyclic  poets  were  followed  by  lyrical  writers,  and 
the  dramatists  of  Athens,  who  flourished  cotemporaneously  with  all 
that  is  most  admirable  in  the  kindred  productions  of  music,  paint- 
ing, sculpture,  architecture,  philosophy,  and  the  civil  forms  of 
democratic  Hfe.  Orpheus,  Linus,  Musseus,  and  others,  the  earliest 
poets  of  Greece,  but  of  whom  Httle  is  known,  indicate  the  existence 
of  a  mass  of  poetic  material  extremely  antique,  which  began  to  be 
reduced  to  writing  as  soon  as  the  Dorians  emerg^ed  from  barbarism 
and  the  ignoble  pursuits  of  war.  When  they  awoke  to  national 
consciousness,  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  an  enchanted 
land,  teeming  everywhere  with  the  fascination  of  heroic  deeds 
done  by  heroic  men,  and  the  Cadmean  Hesiod  arose  to  gamer  the 


LITERATURE. 


33 


rich  harvest  in  his  immortal  songs.  Subjected  to  the  outer  world, 
and  attracted  by  all  that  was  novel,  beautiful,  or  sublime,  the  people 
listened  to  tales  of  deified  heroes,  whose '  devotion  and  wanderings 
filled  a  preceding  age  with  renown,  and  their  own  bosoms  with  de- 
light. It  was  thus  that  popular  legends  assumed  by  degrees  an 
epic  dignity,  or  by  more  flexile  art  were  perfected  into  the  beauty 
of  festive  airs.  But  into  whatever  mold  the  golden  current  w^as 
cast,  the  narrative  remained  clear,  impassioned,  varied,  minute,  as 
the  taste  of  the  age  and  eagerness  of  listening  multitudes  required. 
Thus  Homer  and  Hesiod  were  as  truly  legislators  and  founders  of 
national  polity,  as  Moses  and  Zoroaster  had  been  in  their  respective 
spheres. 

The  earliest  patrons  of  literature,  were  the  Peisistratidse  who 
endeavored  to  supply  the  general  want  of  books,  by  inscribing  the 
select  passages  on  columns  along  the  public  streets.  All  that  was 
most  valuable  and  attainable,  such  as  fi^agmentary  laws,  proverbial 
sentences  of  wise  men,  fables  of  ^sop,  verses  of  Simonides,  to- 
gether with  the  lyiic  poets  and  tragedians  of  primitive  times, 
Theognis  and  Solon,  were  collected  in  the  library  which  they  were 
the  fii'st  to  found.  By  the  same  conservative  foresight.  Homer  was 
arranged  in  continuous  form,  and  superseding  the  foregoing  Kterary 
world,  became  the  foundation  and  source  of  a  better  one  already 
begun. 

Archilochus,  memorable  as  the  inventor  of  Iambic  verse ;  Ter- 
pander,  celebrated  for  his  exquisite  talents  as  a  musician  ;  and  Ster- 
sichorus,  of  whom  a  few  beautiful  fragments  remain,  bring  us  to 
the  consideration  of  that  more  renowned  trio,  Sappho,  Pindar  and 
Anacreon.  The  latter  was  a  voluptuary,  whose  luxurious  pictures 
might  please  the  sensual,  but  contained  nothing  beautiful  or  sub- 
lime. 

Pindar  was  cotemporary  with  ^schylus,  and  senior  to  Bacchy- 
lides,  Simonides  of  Ceos,  Alcman,  and  Alcseus,  all  of  whom  he  ex- 
celled in  lyrical  excellence.  Corinna,  his  famous  teacher,  beat  him 
five  times  in  musical  composition,  the  fair  rival  perhaps  triumphing 
by  personal  charms,  rather  than  through  poetical  superiority.  But 
in  the  highest  order  of  his  art,  Pindar  was  almost  always  declared 
supreme.  He  had  a  particular  regard  for  Pan,  and  took  up  his 
abode  contiguous  to  the  temple  of  that  deity,  where  he  composed 

2* 


34 


PERICLES. 


the  hymns  which  were  sung  by  the  Theban  virgins  in  honor  of 
that  mystic  emblem  of  universal  nature.  This  Theban  eagle, 
whose  pride  of  place  is  still  undistm-bed  in  the  Grecian  heavens, 
dedicated  his  chief  odes  to  the  glory  of  the  Olympic  games,  when 
the  selectest  aspirants  of  a  mighty  nation  joined  in  the  competition 
for  prizes  awarded  there. 

Saj^pho,  it  would  seem,  was  endowed  with  a  soul  overflowing 
with  acute  sensitiveness,  that  glorious  but  dangerous  gift.  Her 
hfe,  as  indicated  by  the  relics  of  her  composition,  was  a  current  of 
perpetual  fluctuation,  like  a  troubled  billow,  now  tossed  to  the 
stars,  and  anon  buried  in  the  darkest  abyss.  "  To  such  beings,"  is 
the  remark  of  Frederick  Schlegel,  "  the  urn  of  destiny  assigns  the 
loftiest  or  most  degrading  fate ;  close  as  is  their  inward  union,  they 
are,  nevertheless,  entirely  divided,  and  even  in  their  overflow  of 
harmony,  shattered  and  broken  into  countless  fragments."  Few 
relics  of  her  harp  remain,  and  these  are  borne  dow^n  to  us  on  the 
stream  of  time,  imbued  with  the  lofty  tenderness  of  cureless  melan- 
choly. She  was  of  that  old  Greek  temper  that  wreathed  the  skel- 
eton with  flowers,  and  to  her  might  be  applied  the  legend  which 
testifies  that  the  nightingales  of  sweetest  song  were  those  whose 
nests  were  built  nearest  to  the  tomb  of  Orpheus.  The  early  lyrics 
of  Greece  were  productions  full  of  wonders.  They  glowed  with  the 
hues  of  that  orient  of  their  origin,  and  where  all  forms  appear  in 
purple  glory ;  each  flow^er  beams  like  a  morning  ray  fasteaied  to 
earth,  and  eagle  thoughts  soar  to  the  sun  on  golden  wings.  Each 
style  of  national  poetry  grew  gracefully  and  erect,  like  the  palm- 
tree,  with  its  rich  yet  symmetrical  crown ;  and  while  in  broad  day 
it  was  fairest  to  the  eye,  even  in  gloom  it  bore  nocturnal  charms, 
as  glow-worms  illuminated  the  leaves,  and  birds  of  sweetest  note 
perched  on  the  boughs  to  sing. 

Passing  from  the  fervor  of  youth  to  the  reflection  of  maturity, 
the  epic  muse  retreated  before  the  lyric.  Plants  of  a  richer  foliage 
and  more  pungent  perfume  sprang  up  in  the  garden  of  poetry. 
Language  more  compressed  and  intense  was  required,  and  the 
-^olic  and  Doric  became  the  appropriate  organ  of  the  latter,  as  the 
Ionic  had  been  of  the  former  style.  In  the  Attic  era,  the  partial 
excellence  of  earlier  times  became  fully  developed  under  the  focal 
efi"ulgence  of  universal  rays ;  and,  as  the  altar  of  Vesta  imited  all 


LITERATURE. 


35 


the  citizens  of  tlie  same  town,  the  crowned  champions  in  every 
department  of  letters  gathered  under  "  the  eye  of  Greece,"  and 
paid  tribute  to  the  age  of  Pericles.  Then  each  leading  writer, 
called  to  conserve  all  antecedent  worth,  lived  on  the  capital  amassed 
hj  unskillful  predecessors,  and  with  innate  facility  wrought  it  into 
the  continuous  chain  of  human  improvement,  Not  in  the  colossal 
and  impracticable  shapes  which  float  in  the  mists  of  the  hoary 
North,  was  this  majestic  style  of  literature  produced ;  nor  in  the 
florid  barbarism  of  the  effete  East  and  South,  but  with  that  profound 
feeling  and  piercing  expression,  elegant  and  forcible  as  an  arrow 
from  the  bow  of  Ulysses,  was  it  inspired  with  that  lofty  spirit  of 
endeavor  which  leaps  evermore  towards  the  azure  tent  of  the  stars. 
If  the  car  of  the  hero  sometimes  kindled  its  axle  to  a  fliame,  as  it 
neared  the  goal,  his  eye  was  yet  undazzled,  his  hand  faltered  not 
on  the  curb,  but  the  greater  the  momentum,  the  firmer  was  his 
grasp.  So  with  the  Greek  poet,  every  thing  was  sohd  and  refined, 
harmoniously  fitted  in  the  several  parts,  and  superbly  burnished  as 
a  whole.  Though  from  the  day  of  their  becoming  nationalized, 
the  Greeks  possessed  vast  stores  of  unwrought  material,  yet  was 
jjothing  needlessly  employed.  They  enhanced  the  value  Of  their 
products  by  condensing  their  worth.  What  Corinna  said  to  Pind'ar, 
who,  in  his  youth,  showed  some  inclination  to  extravagance,  "  That 
one  must  sow  with  the  hand,  not  with  a  full  sack,"  illustrates  the 
jjational  taste,  and  exemplifies  a  principle  which  pervades  their  en- 
tire literature.  While  always  earnest,  they  never  violate  decorum, 
but  in  the  greatest  extremes  of  joy  or  grief,  their  heroes,  like  Po- 
lyxena,  even  in  death,  fall  with  dignity.  It  was  most  natural  for 
the  Greeks  to  symbolize  imagination  under  the  image  of  Pegasus, 
who  bore  reins  as  well  as  wings.  The  severity  of  their  taste  was 
yet  further  indicated  by  the  legend  that  when  borne  by  this  power, 
Perseus  with  indecorous  temerity  flew  too  near  Ol3mipus,  he  was 
precipitated  by  the  angry  gods,  though  himself  one  of  their  sons. 

The  drama  was  the  youngest  and  most  perfect  of  Attic  creations, 
and  that  great  cycle  of  the  arts  which  had  an  epic  origin,  naturally 
returned  into  itself  by  means  of  this.  Tragedy  was  the  purest 
elimination,  and  its  progress  may  be  easily  traced.  First,  a  whole 
populace  assembled  in  some  market-place  the  miscellaneous  chorus, 
or  dance ;  then  the  recreation  was  limited  to  men  capable  of  bear- 


36 


PEKICLES. 


ing  arms ;  and,  finally,  the  people  were  separated  into  spectators 
and  trained  performers.  The  lyric  hymn  of  Apollo  blended  with 
dithyrambic  odes  to  Bacchus ;  the  strophe  was  distinguished  from 
the  antistrophe,  and  the  epode  was  added ;  the  dialogue  between 
choragoi  and  exarchi  followed ;  and,  finally,  came  the  separation 
of  the  chorus  into  these  speakers  and  the  choreutse,  a  distinction 
as  important  as  the  previous  one  into  chorus  and  spectators.  Thus 
were  all  the  component  parts  of  tragedy  completed,  before  the  Per- 
sian war,  when  every  thing  the  Greeks  did  was  great  and  fascinat-* 
ing,  as  if  created  by  magic,  and  their  dramatic  compositions  were 
the  most  beautiful  of  all. 

The  finest  genius  of  a  great  era  always  turns  toward  the  highest 
sphere  for  exercise,  and  thus  preserves  an  equilibrium  between 
popular  taste  and  the  direction  of  its  talent.  When  lyrical  poetry 
had  transmigrated  into  choral  song,  and  epic  history  merged  into 
a  dramatic  plot  and  dialogue,  the  greatest  of  tragedians  extant  was 
appointed  to  consecrate  the  union  and  preserve  its  worth,  ^chy- 
lus  was  born  at  Eleusis,  b.  c.  525,  about  the  time  Phrynichus  ele- 
vated the  Thespian  romance  into  dramatic  personation,  and  his 
advent  was  opportune  to  impress  upon  this  department  of  letters  a 
deep  and  enduring  stamp.  With  an  ardent  temperament,  early 
exalted  by  the  fervid  strains  of  Homer,  he  imbibed,  in  maturity, 
the  ambrosial  influence  of  the  above-named  precursor,  in  company 
with  his  senior  associate,  Pindar,  and  with  him  wove  thoughts  to 
the  lofty  music  of  the  dithyrambic  ode.  Passing  through  this  order 
of  excellence  to  a  still  higher  range,  in  the  same  year  Athenian 
valor  lighted  the  flames  of  the  Persian  war  at  the  conflagration  of 
Sardis,  the  son  of  Euphorion  produced  his  first  tragedy.  Pratinas 
and  Choerilus  were  for  a  season  his  competitors ;  but  he  soon  dis- 
tanced them  all,  and  won  the  ivy  chaplet,  then  first  bestowed, 
instead  of  the  goat  and  ox,  as  the  most  glorious  literary  crown. 

At  this  period  the  structural  skill  of  the  Athenians  had  greatly 
improved,  and  as  the  celebrity  of  their  drama  increased,  immense 
theatres  arose  on  the  hill-side,  and  were  thronged  by  thousands, 
tier  above  tier,  open  to  the  wonders  of  expanding  nature,  em- 
bellished by  the  living  sun.  The  JEgean  on  one  hand,  and  vast 
mountains  on  the  other,  fanned  by  the  breeze  and  relieved  against 
brilliant  skies,  were  harmonious  features  which  nature  accumulated 


LITERATURE. 


37 


round  the  scene.  The  gigantic  proportions  of  the  theatre,  and  the 
mighty  range  of  the  audience,  were  fully  equaled  by  the  perform- 
ance itself,  when  Themistocles  felt  honored  in  appearing  as  chora- 
gus,  and  through  kindred  interpreters  ^schylus  unfolded  the  mys- 
teries of  the  thrilHng  plot.  Advancing  intellect  demanded  grand 
ideal  personifications ;  and,  to  meet  the  cravings  of  an  age  which 
even  the  perfect  epic  could  no  longer  satisfy,  philosophy  passed  into 
poetry,  and  what  Homer  had  done  for  more  material  thought, 
^schylus  achieved  for  mind.  All  the  vague  mysteries  and 
symbolical  ethics  of  the  East  were  measurably  purged  from  alloy, 
while  their  substance  was  melted  into  the  tortured  immortality 
of  Prometheus,  and  bound  to  that  mount  of  all  literary  beauty,  the 
Acropolis. 

As  JEschylus  expressed  the  race  and  period  from  which  emerged 
Themistocles  and  Aristides,  Sophocles  was  the  correlative  of 
Phidias,  and  the  great  Olympian  who  was  the  patron  of  them  both. 
Indeed,  from  the  majesty  of  his  mien,  and  the  symmetrical  grandeur 
of  his  genius,  he  was  called  the  Pericles  of  poetry.  Supreme  power 
lurked  in  his  repose,  and  his  thunders  startled  all  the  more  because 
they  broke  upon  the  multitude  from  cloudless  skies. 

Of  all  the  great  originals  at  Athens,  the  drama  was  the  most  in- 
digenous, and  under  the  culture  of  Sophocles  perfected  its  growth. 
Imagination  had  fulmined  with  broader  and  brighter  flashes  on  the 
preceding  generation ;  but  the  works  of  his  hand,  though  equally 
fresh  from  the  fountains  of  nature,  were  more  imbued  with  reason, 
and  the  sohdity  of  manly  strength.  The  age  of  Pericles  was  pecu- 
harly  the  age  of  art ;  and  Sophocles  was  but  one  of  many  who,  to 
excel  in  his  own  department,  mastered  every  cognate  secret  of  wis- 
dom or  beauty,  and  brought  all  into  subordination  to  his  own 
absorbing  design.  He  lived  at  a  time  when  the  trophies  of  Mil- 
tiades,  the  ambition  of  Alcibiades,  the  extravagance  of  Cimon,  and 
the  taste  of  Pericles,  not  less  than  the  science  and  art,  erudition 
and  enthusiasm,  philosophy  and  eloquence,  difi'used  through  all 
classes  of  the  general  populace,  rendered  the  Athenians  at  once  the 
most  competent  to  appreciate,  and  the  most  difficult  to  please'. 
Recondite  disquisition  was  a  pastime,  the  Agora  itself  but  a 
genial  academe;  so  elevated  and  yet  so  dehcate  were  the  soul 
and  sensibilities  of  the  excited  mass,  that  the  wisest  of  their 


38 


PERICLES. 


sages  was  justified  in  asserting  that  the  common  people  were 
the  most  accurate  judges  of  whatever  was  graceful,  harmonious, 
or  sublime. 

In  the  growth  of  a  flower  there  is  continued  development,  visibly 
marked  by  successive  mutations,  but  indivisibly  connected  from 
beginning  to  end.  Simultaneous  with  complete  maturity  glows 
the  instant  of  consummate  bloom,  the  highest  point  of  fullness, 
fragrance,  and  fascination.  That  splendid  culmination  in  the  pro- 
gressive refinement  which  adorned  and  made  fruitful  the  garden 
of  Greece,  was  signalized  by  the  faultless  forms  and  transparent 
language  left  us  by  Sophocles.  The  lucid  beauty  of  his  works  was 
the  chosen  mirror  of  Athens,  to  reflect  internal  harmony,  and  the 
greatest  beauty  of  soul.  The  dazzling  glories  of  Greece  in  general, 
and  of  Athens  in  particular,  imbued  the  great  writers  with  corre- 
sponding ideas  of  the  greatness  of  human  nature,  which  they  en- 
deavored to  represent  in  its  struggles  with  fate  and  the  gods.  In 
the  Prometheus  of  JEschylus  especially,  the  wilderness  and  other 
natural  horrors  are  made  to  relieve  the  statuesque  severity  of  the 
scene,  and  are  employed,  like  the  chains  and  wedge,  as  instruments 
by  which  Jupiter  seeks  to  intimidate  the  benefactor  of  mankind. 
But  in  such  delineations  as  Edipus  at  Colonus,  Ajax,  and  Philoctetes, 
Sophocles,  in  his  glorious  art,  showed  a  great  advancement  beyond 
his  predecessors,  by  intermingling  the  emotions  of  human  love,  and 
causing  the  more  cheerful  sentiments,  inspired  by  lovelier  natural 
scenes,  to  become  important  elements,  not  merely  in  the  imaginative 
adornment,  but  also  in  the  dramatic  plan.  If  the  Ionic  epic  was  a 
tranquil  lake,  mirroring  a  serene  sky  in  its  bosom,  and  transfiguring 
diversified  charms  along  its  smiHng  shores ;  the  Attic  drama  became 
a  mighty  stream  which  calmly  yet  resistlessly  courses  within  its 
stedfast  banks,  is  impeded  by  no  obstacle,  diverted  by  no  attraction, 
salutes  with  equal  dignity  the  sunny  mead  and  gloomy  mountain 
shadow,  and,  after  a  majestic  sweep  from  its  far-ofi"  source,  mingles 
its  strength  at  last  in  the  omnipotence  of  the  sea.  Thus  the  highest 
wealth  of  refined  poetry  was  preserved  in  the  pure  casket  of  the 
richest  tongue,  and  the  Attic  drama  was  left  to  man  as  the  master- 
piece of  linguistic  art.  Sophocles,  like  the  fabled  Theban,  seems 
to  have  built  up  his  elegant  fabric  with  the  charms  of  music ;  and 
if  -^schylus  first  elevated  tragedy  to  heroic  dignity,  he  softened  its 


LITERATURE. 


39 


rugged  strength  into  harmonious  sweetness,  and  stamped  upon  the 
precious  treasure  the  signet  of  immortal  worth. 

Euripides,  hke  his  predecessors,  was  a  proficient  in  a  great  variety 
of  arts,  but  neither  sublime  in  conception,  nor  severe  in  style,  as 
^schylus  and  Sophocles  had  been.  But  his  spirit  teemed  with 
splendid  and  amiable  qualities,  whose  captivating  power  was  highly 
relished  by  the  age  it  came  to  decorate  and  complete.  The  ener- 
getic dignity  of  the  first  great  master,  and  the  chaste  sweetness  of 
his  still  greater  rival,  had  passed;  now  appeared  one  who  was 
indeed  worthy  of  much  admiration,  but  the  least  divine  of  the  noble 
triad,  whose  natural  course  declined  from  the  elevated  cothurnus 
toward  level  ground. 

When  Euripides  clothed  Pentheus  in  female  dress,  and  exhibited 
Hercules  as  a  glutton,  he  showed  himself  to  be  the  precursor  of 
comedy,  that  first  symptom  of  literary  decline,  and  thus  won  the 
praise  of  Menander,  as  he  deserved  the  lash  of  Aristophanes.  The 
latter,  who  was  his  cotemporary,  unceasingly  castigated  his  efiemi- 
nate  prettiness,  but  never  attacked  the  manly  elegance  of  Sophocles, 
or  the  gigantic  vigor  of  JEschylus.  Agathon,  with  others  of  some 
note,  continued  for  a  season  to  write  for  the  stage ;  but  in  Euripides 
the  forcible  and  refined  tragedy  of  Greece  came  to  an  end.  As  the 
nine  Muses  wept  at  the  funeral  of  Achilles,  so  grieved  the  nations 
at  that  mighty  fall. 

There  was  the  wisdom  of  a  deep  moral  in  that  Athenian  law, 
which  interdicted  a  judge  of  the  Areopagus  from  writing  a  comedy. 
Until  a  grosser  age  supervened,  the  Greeks  were  not  inclined  to 
scrutinize  the  ludicrous  side  of  things.  The  goddess  of  the  Iliad, 
who  warded  ofi"  the  dart  from  her  favorite,  was  an  apt  symbol  of 
the  Genius  of  Civilization,  throned  on  the  Acropolis,  where  Beauty, 
mother  of  Excellence,  threw  down  her  mantle  and  intercepted  the 
arrows  of  every  foe.  Greek  farce  was  often  insolent,  but  never  utterly 
vicious.  While  Aristophanes  portrayed  the  foibles  of  town-life 
with  a  caustic  hand,  he  ceased  not  to  keep  in  view  a  healthful 
suburb  of  gardens  in  redeeming  bloom.  As  Minerva,  with  precious 
elixir,  concealed  the  wrinkles  of  Ulysses,  the  age  of  Pericles  per- 
formed well  its  mission  of  investing  every  thing  venerable  and 
instructive  with  the  most  elaborate  charms. 

All  the  gentler  shapes  of  fancy  that,  in  the  preparatory  time, 


40 


PERICLES. 


bloomed  in  the  lyrics  of  Greece,  were  only  flowers  unfolding  round 
the  aspiring  trunk  of  tragedy,  attracted  by  its  superior  streng-th, 
and  sheltered  by  the  majesty  of  its  shade,  ^schylus,  however  tri- 
umphant in  the  field  of  martial  prowess  one  day,  was  the  next  not 
less  ambitious  of  poetic  garlands  at  the  Olympic  games.  And 
Thebes  was  not  more  gloriously  embalmed  in  the  melody  of  Pindar, 
than  was  Colonos  through  the  art  of  Sophocles,  as  her  melodious 
thrush  in  his  verse  enjoys  a  perpetual  May. 

A  marked  peculiarity  of  Greek  civihzation  consists  in  the  fact 
that  literature  there  led  all  excellence,  illustrated  and  sustained  by 
the  harmonious  accompaniment  of  the  sister  arts.  In  the  East, 
each  work,  whatever  its  kind,  stood  imperfect  and  independent  of 
all  beside.  But  in  the  best  age  of  the  best  works  in  the  first  lite- 
rary metropolis,  of  the  West,  it  would  be  nearly,  if  not  quite,  im- 
possible to  point  out  a  single  production  that  did  not  refer  to  the 
written  book,  thus  furnishing  the  means  of  just  appreciation,  by  a 
comparison  with  the  particular  myth  or  action  it  was  designed  to 
personate.  What  the  wi'iter  expressed  in  words,  the  correlative 
artist  chanted,  painted,  sculptured,  or  built  in  more  material,  but 
not  less  beautiful  forms.  The  drama  most  impressively  exemplified 
this  fact,  using  words  as  a  poet,  but  adding  the  simultaneous  com- 
mentary of  melody,  statuesque  motion,  pictorial  resemblance,  and 
architectural  grandeur.  This  was  the  absorption  of  the  lyric,  the 
personation  of  the  epic,  and  the  consummation  of  transcendant  dra- 
matic art. 

Athens  was  the  inventress  of  learning,  and  the  first  great  found- 
ation of  republican  law.  Like  the  motion  of  a  serpent,  which 
the  Egyptians  made  the  emblem  of  intellectual  power,  or  like  the 
path  of  lightning  through  murky  air,  at  each  actual  advance  hu- 
manity may  seem  to  recede,  but  every  such  retrogressive  move- 
ment really  accumulates  force  to  carry  itself  in  advance.  True, 
patriotism  loves  its  object  to  such  a  degree,  that  it  is  ready  to  incur 
any  sacrifice  in  favor  of  those  it  would  benefit,  but  ceases  to  be  a 
virtue  when  it  selfishly  reclines  enamored  of  its  own  visage.  Nar- 
cissus was  not  the  type  of  national  benefactors,  but  the  great  law- 
givers of  Sparta  and  Athens  were,  when  they  traveled  far,  and  at 
great  hazards,  to  gather  knowledge  for  the  education  of  their  coun- 
trymen. 


LITERATURE. 


41 


The  illustrious  son  of  Eumonius  was  tlie  great  lawgiver  of  the 
Doric  race,  whose  institutions  have  excited  much  curiosity,  but 
which  are  involved  in  an  obscurity  too  dense  to  be  easily  removed. 
He  was  one  of  the  very  few  great  spirits  of  Sparta,  and  like  his 
co-patriot  Leonidas,  passed  through  a  dubious  path  from  an  obscure 
birth  to  everlasting  fame.  In  the  light  of  history,  the  whole  life 
of  the  latter,  especially,  lies  in  a  single  action,  and  we  can  learn 
nothing  authentic  of  him  until  the  last  few  days  of  his  career.  In 
the  annals  of  renown,  only  one  proud  page  is  dedicated  to  the 
memory  of  such  men,  and  that  contains  nothing  but  an  epitaph. 

Solon,  on  the  contrary,  stands  out  clearly  in  the  effulgence  which 
under  more  auspicious  influences  poured  on  Attica.  He  was  the 
second  and  more  successful  lawgiver  of  his  race,  and  also  stood  pre- 
eminent among  the  sages  of  his  land.  Success  first  attended  him 
in  poetry,  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  Plato,  that  if  he  had  elabo- 
rated his  compositions  with  maturer  care,  they  would  have  equaled 
the  most  celebrated  productions  of  the  ancients.  But  the  pros- 
pective good  of  nations  required  him  to  apply  the  great  endow- 
ments he  possessed  to  moral  and  political  purposes  ;  and,  according 
to  Plutarch,  "  he  cultivated  chiefly  that  part  of  philosophy  which 
treats  of  civil  obligations."  He  pursued  commerce,  traveled  widely, 
and,  in  patient  research,  accumulated  those  stores  of  observation  and 
erudition  which  rendered  him  an  honor  to  Athens,  and  a  great  bene- 
factor to  mankind. 

History,  properly  so  called,  originated  with  the  Greeks,  and  in 
natural  clearness  and  vivacity,  portraiture  of  diversified  incidents 
and  profound  observation  of  man,  eminent  success  was  first  by  that 
people  attained.  The  great  coryphaeus  in  the  prosaic  chorus,  Herod- 
otus, has  been  compared  to  Homer,  on  account  of  his  manifold 
charms  and  transparency  of  narrative.  The  depth  and  comprehen- 
siveness of  his  knowledge,  inquiries,  attainments,  and  commentaries 
on  antiquities  in  general,  excite  in  competent  judges  the  profound- 
est  astonishment.  He  is  called  the  father  of  history,  as  he  was  the 
first  to  pass  from  the  mere  traditions  which  furnished  themes  to  the 
poets,  and  gave  dignity  to  didactic  prose  as  an  independent  branch 
of  literature. 

Human  reason  is  progressive  chiefly  by  virtue  of  remembrance 
and  language  •  hence  were  the  Muses  beautifully  represented  as  be- 


42 


PERICLES. 


iug  the  daughters  of  Memory,  the  only  power  through  which,  in 
the  infancy  of  letters,  the  liarvests  of  thought  could  be  garnered 
and  preserved.  The  first  national  annals  were  cast  under  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  fair  Nine,  but  the  Muses  of  the  great  Dorian  turned 
to  the  Ionic  dialect  as  their  most  fitting  vernacular.  The  civiliza- 
tion of  Greece  was  the  first  that  was  unfolded  by  a  natural  growth, 
and  its  crowning  bloom  appeared  only  when  every  other  portion  of 
the  wondrous  plant  had  become  perfectly  matured.  It  awoke  like 
a  joyous  infant,  under  the  fairest  heavens,  and  was  nourished  by 
all  beautifying  and  ennobling  influences.  Its  life  was  led  apart 
from  exhausting  drudgery  and  effeminate  ease,  among  fair  festivals 
and  solemn  assemblies,  full  of  healthful  exhilaration,  innocent  curi- 
osity, and  confiding  faith.  Pindar  preferred  the  Doric  dialect  to 
his  native  ^olic,  in  which  many  had  sung.  Like  the  other  leaders 
of  his  race,  he  imitated  his  predecessors  in  nothing,  but  by  invent- 
ing ;  he  employed  the  form  demanded  by  the  nature  of  his  art,  and 
chose  the  language  with  certainty  and  care,  which  refused  submis- 
sion to  the  yoke  of  authority.  The  principle,  that  in  each  realm 
of  art,  whatever  is  accidental  should  be  excluded,  was  thoroughly 
recognized  in  Greece,  where  even  what  fell  in  by  accident,  as  the 
chorus  of  the  drama,  soon  became  entirely  fused  into  the  chief 
parts  of  the  action,  like  an  organic  member  of  the  whole.  The 
singer  of  the  Iliad  was  born  under  the  sky  of  Ionia,  and  he  molded 
his  native  dialect  forever  to  epic  poetry.  The  thoughtful  Herodotus 
preferred  the  same  language  to  the  Doric,  his  native  tongue,  and 
employed  the  Ionic,  which  was  just  then  putting  forth  its  fairest 
buds  of  promise.  Thus,  the  epos  of  history  was  twin-born  with 
the  epos  of  poetry.  The  wanderings  of  Ulysses,  the  Argonauts, 
and  primitive  heroes,  embrace  the  whole  extent  of  the  then  known 
or  imagined  world,  the  various  manners,  countries,  and  cities  in- 
cluded. All  these  the  great  annalist  works  into  the  rich  and  varie- 
gated picture,  which,  like  a  moving  panorama,  he  unfolds  to  the 
enraptured  gaze.  Minuteness,  likeness,  and  strength  were  requisite 
as  the  medium  of  expression,  and  not  in  the  old  Doric,  but  in  the 
new  Ionic,  were  these  found  happily  combined.  Hence,  in  histori- 
cal writing  with  the  Greeks,  as  in  every  other  department  of  art, 
we  see  that  wonderful  concord  between  the  substance  and  the  form, 


LITERATURE. 


43 


that  harmony  of  inward  and  outward  music,  which  is  the  first  and 
most  indispensable  condition  of  beauty. 

Up  to  this  period,  history  had  been  composed  expressly  for  reci- 
tal at  the  national  games,  and  was  couched  in  a  rhetorical  trans- 
ition from  the  preceding  poetical  form.  The  minstrel  of  the  Ho» 
meric  banquet  became  the  eulogist  of  his  countrymen  before  ap- 
plauding thousands  at  Olympia  ;  but  now  arose  another  master  who 
foresaw  that  his  work  would  survive  the  forms  of  society  then  exist- 
ing, and  he  aimed  not  so  much  for  a  transient  hearing,  as  to  be 
perpetually  read.  The  Attic  Thucydides  had  listened  to  Herodotus 
in  the  great  presence  of  the  nation,  and  became  inspired  with  an 
enthusiasm  which  bore  him  to  the  height  of  superior  excellence. 
He  was  cotemporary  with  Socrates,  and  under  Anaxagoras  and 
Antiphon,  matured  that  compressed  eloquence  which  was  to  com- 
memorate an  age  then  dawning  full  of  stirring  incident.  He  re- 
nounced the  episodic  movement  common  to  his  great  predecessor, 
and  instead  of  supplying  a  pastime  for  the  present,  aspired  to  por- 
tray universal  man,  and  inculcate  profound  lessons  respecting  the 
Providence  that  rules  the  world. 

Thucydides  perfected  that  form  of  historical  writing  which  is  pe- 
cuharly  Greek,  and  was  succeeded  by  Xenophon,  whose  third 
remove  was  clearly  beyond  the  culminating  point.  Polybius  devel- 
oped the  idea  of  universal  disquisition,  and  Dionysius  of  Halicar- 
nassus,  was  honored  as  the  first  of  historic  critics ;  but  after  the 
fall  of  freedom,  there  was  little  worthy  for  one  either  to  portray  or 
appreciate. 

It  was  in  the  day  of  Themistocles  especially,  the  Greeks  appear 
to  have  been  sensible  that  they  were  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
destiny,  and  that  their  greatness  was  greatly  to  sway  the  genera- 
tions of  all  coming  time.  This  national  consciousness,  increasingly 
intensified  in  description  and  illustration,  is  strongly  impressed  on 
the  sententious  pages  of  Thucydides.  The  theme  of  Herodotus 
was  a  particular  war,  the  Persian,  and  he  treated  it  as  an  epical 
artist.  But  his  acuter  successor  added  philosophical  composition 
to  the  densest  power  of  combination,  and  was  the  first  to  attempt 
the  analysis  and  portraiture  of  character.  Thus,  as  in  every  other 
literary  walk,  the  march  of  historical  excellence  became  most  ex- 
tended and  regular  at  the  mighty  heart  of  intelhgence ;  on  the  spot 


44 


PERICLES. 


where  its  origin  was*  indigenous,  its  perfection  was  most  splendidly 
evolved. 

Though  fortune  for  the  moment  gave  the  Spartan,  Eurybiades, 
the  nominal  command  at  Salamis,  genius  predestined  the  Athenian, 
Themistocles,  to  actual  pre-eminence  over  his  age,  that  he  might 
command  the  remotest  sequences  of  events.  Certainly  he  was  the 
greatest  of  his  own  age,  and  was  not  soon  surpassed.  Pisistratus, 
Cimon,  Aristides,  and  Pericles,  were  of  noble  birth ;  but  Themis- 
tocles was  the  first,  and,  except  Demosthenes,  the  greatest  of  those 
who  rose  from  the  humblest  ranks,  but  none  the  less  ennobled  him- 
self, while  he  elevated  the  common  fortunes  in  his  own  ascent.  His 
genius  alone  was  the  architect  of  all  his  grandeur,  and  drew  from 
Diodorus  the  exclamation,  "  What  other  man  could,  in  the  same 
time,  have  placed  Greece  at  the  head  of  nations,  Athens  at  the  head 
of  Greece,  himself  at  the  head  of  Athens  ?  In  the  most  illustrious 
age  the  most  illustrious  man." 

But  the  age  of  warlike  glory  ended  with  the  occasion  for  its  use, 
and  an  appropriate  link  was  required  between  the  ostentation  of 
Themistocles  and  the  intellectual  sovereignty  of  Pericles.  This  was 
supplied  in  Cimon,  who  fostered  popular  spectacles,  and  invested 
them  with  increased  magnificence ;  built  the  Theseion,  embellished 
the  public  buildings  before  extant,  and  originated  those  classic 
colonnades,  beneath  which,  sheltered  from  sun  or  rain,  the  inquisi- 
tive citizens  were  accustomed  to  hold  civil,  literary,  or  artistic 
debate.  The  Agora,  adorned  with  oriental  planes ;  and  the  palm- 
groves  of  Academe,  the  immortal  school  of  Plato,  were  his  work. 
Has  hand  formed  the  secluded  walks,  fashioned  the  foliaged  alcoves, 
adorned  each  nook  \nth.  its  relevant  bust  or  statue,  and  poured 
through  the  green  retreats  the  melodious  waters  of  the  Dissus,  in 
sparkling  fountains,  or  eddying  pools,  to  rest  the  weary,  and  exhil- 
arate the  sad.  Thus  he  more  fully  realized  the  social  policy,  com- 
menced by  Pisistratus,  who  was  the  first  to  elicit  diversified  talents 
from  the  recesses  of  private  life,  with  the  intention  of  causing  all  to 
merge  into  one  animated,  multifarious,  and  invincible  public  life. 
The  works  now  written,  and  the  subhme  creations  of  art  at  this 
time  multiplied,  were  the  first  foundation  of  culture  for  the  futurity 
of  the  human  mind.  It  was  an  age  that  gave  to  the  world  what 
can  nowhere  else  be  obtained.    The  priceless  legacy  was  produced 


LITERAT  URE. 


45 


by  that  wonderful  people  during  the  brief  period  of  freedom  and 
undiminished  greatness,  when  their  literature  was  made  to  fulmine 
on  the  capacities  of  man,  and  reflect  the  brightest  glory  on  the 
principles  of  democratic  polity. 

Pericles  was  not  less  ambitious  to  aggrandize  Athens,  than  were 
his  more  martial  or  plebeian  precursors ;  but  he  well  understood 
the  destiny  of  his  race,  and  knew  on  what  surer  foundations  to 
build  than  aristocratic  or  regal  titles,  which,  if  he  had  the  power 
to  possess,  he  always  afiected  to  despise.  The  wider  extension  of 
national  domain  was  to  yield  to  the  loftier  cultivation  of  the  national 
mind.  Obedient  to  his  behest,  and  in  harmony  with  the  popular 
will,  all  superior  proficients  gathered  round  the  Acropolis,  a  spot 
too  sacred  for  himian  habitations,  and,  by  their  united  labors,  soon 
rendered  it  the  central  glory  of  "  a  city  of  the  gods." 

In  his  youth,  Pericles  had  known  Pindar  and  Empedocles.  He 
had  seen  the  prison  of  Miltiades,  and  turned  from  a  music  lesson 
to  gaze  after  Aristides  driven  into  exile,  ^schylus  he  early  loved, 
and  exercised  maturer  thought  with  Sophocles,  in  debates  on  elo- 
quence. By  Euripides  had  he  been  instructed  in  ethical  philosophy ; 
and  Protagorus  and  Democritus,  Anaxagoras  and  Meton,  did  he 
question  as  to  the  best  rules  of  state  polity.  Herodotus  and  Thu- 
cydides  initiated  him  into  history.  Acron  and  Hippocrates  imbued 
him  with  a  beneficent  philosophy ;  Ictinus  built  to  his  order,  the 
Parthenon,  worthy  of  Polygnotus  to  paint ;  while  Phidias  set  up 
under  the  same  auspices  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  land,  in  ivory  and 
gold.  Thus  trained  among  a  people  susceptible  and  fastidious,  that 
had  itself  become  a  Pericles,  competent  to  appreciate,  in  every  de- 
partment the  high  excellence  they  inspired  and  recompensed,  he 
was  the  first  to  mirror  to  themselves  fully,  the  exalted  models  after 
which  universal  poetiy  prompted  them  to  aspire.  Themistocles 
had  led  them  to  deeds  of  daring  and  enterprise,  but  the  adroit  son 
of  Xanthippus  soon  eclipsed  every  competitor,  even  that  mighty 
Cimon,  whose  extraordinary  qualities  had  prepared  the  way  for  his 
supremacy. 

The  grave  aspect  of  Pericles,  his  composed  gait,  the  decorous 
arrangement  of  his  robe,  and  the  subdued  modulation  of  his  voice, 
are  dwelt  upon  by  his  eulogists,  just  as  if  his  posthumous  statue 
had  been  the  subject  of  their  comments.    It  was  this  close  and 


46 


PE  JlIC  LES. 


constant  attention  to  the  inner  spirit  and  external  expression  of  all 
thought,  art,  and  manners,  that  distinguished  the  memorable  period 
when  the  grand  style  characterized  every  thing.  To  use  the  words 
of  Plutarch  :  "  Pericles  gave  to  the  study  of  philosophy  the  color 
of  rhetoric.  The  most  brilliant  imagination  seconded  all  the  powers 
of  logic.  Sometimes  he  thundered  with  vehemence,  and  set  all 
Greece  in  flames ;  at  other  times  the  goddess  of  persuasion,  with 
all  her  allurements,  dwelt  upon  his  tongue,  and  no  one  could  de- 
fend himself  from  the  solidity  of  his  argument,  and  the  sweetness 
of  his  discourse." 

This  was  the  era  of  great  orators,  such  as  Lysias,  Eschines,  and 
Isocrates.  Like  the  shout  of  Stentor,  rousing  the  prowess  of  com- 
rades, who,  single-handed,  rushed  upon  embattled  armies,  clad  in 
iron,  so  awoke  mighty  eloquence,  which  shook  impassioned  democ- 
racies, annihilated  tyrannies,  and  fostered  all  ennobling  arts.  But 
the  age  of  criticism  came  after  the  age  of  invention ;  Aristotle  after 
Sophocles,  Longinus  after  Homer,  the  Sophists  after  Pericles.  De- 
mosthenes was  the  last  great  writer  whose  works  were  addressed 
to  the  Greeks  as  a  nation.  His  was  the  genius  of  industry,  always 
luminous  and  constantly  at  work;  like  that  Indian  bird  which 
could  not  only  enjoy  the  sunshine  all  day,  but  secured  no  ignoble 
resemblance  at  night,  by  hanging  glow-worms  on  the  boughs  about 
its  nest.  Demosthenes  was  a  great  orator,  and  nothing  more.  He 
represented  a  period  of  civilization  which  had  passed,  and  therefore 
his  downfall  was  ine\dtable.  So  long  as  the  democratic  spirit  per- 
vaded the  masses  he  performed  prodigies  in  the  tribune ;  but  when 
the  empire  of  beauty  was  about  to  be  displaced  by  the  empire  of 
force,  he  ran  away  at  Cherronea,  and  without  dignity.  The  elo- 
quence of  a  great  nation,  expressed  in  Pericles,  was  succeeded  by 
the  Phillipics  of  a  great  partizan,  and  when  this  was  silenced,  the 
age  of  its  origin  had  closed. 

Pericles  was  the  first  to  commit  his  speeches  to  writing  before 
they  were  delivered ;  and,  in  liis  pride  of  universal  accomplishment, 
he  signalized  the  zenith  of  his  country's  glory  and  its  decline.  In 
all  the  progress  of  Greece  up  to  the  splendor  of  her  culmination, 
originality  was  sought  and  exemplified  only  in  some  one  grand 
pursuit.  The  epic  bard  was  not  ambitious  of  rending  the  ivy  des- 
tined to  adorn  the  brows  of  lyric  poets ;  nor  did  the  master  of 


LITER  ATUKE. 


47 


tragedy,  with  unlaced  buskin,  stride  carelessly  over  Thalia's  stage, 
to  lay  iri'everent  hands  on  Homer's  harp.  The  historian,  studious 
in  private  to  portray  the  annals  of  his  country,  came  not  to  the 
Agora  to  contest  honors  with  the  puWic  orator ;  nor  did  the  latter, 
with  foolish  ambition,  endeavor  to  excel  the  sages  who,  in  the  Por- 
tico, at  the  Lyceum,  or  under  plane-trees  on  the  banks  of  the  His- 
sus,  explained  the  problems  of  the  universe ;  but  each  one  made 
s.ome  exalted  endeavor  the  speciality  of  his  life,  on  it  concentrated 
all  the  rays  of  his  intellect,  and  scorned  no  measure  of  time  or  toil 
requisite  to  insure  absolute  perfection  in  his  work.  Thoughts  so 
elaborated  became  never  setting  stars,  to  cheer  the  world,  and  point 
unerringly  through  the  cycles  of  a  corrupt  taste  to  ideal  excellence. 
As  each  growth,  minute  or  majestic,  was  equally  perfect  of  its  kind, 
though  differenced  by  peculiarity  of  form  and  tints,  the  whole  was 
charmingly  blended  in  that  wreath  of  consummate  beauty,  which, 
in  the  age  of  Pericles,  Greece  hung  round  the  constitution  of  the 
state,  high  on  the  central  shrine  of  the  most  magnificent  temple  of 
her  gods. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  KT  . 

Architecture  is  tlie  metapliysics  of  the  fine  arts,  and  should  be 
made  the  basis  of  all  researches  in  this  department,  since  it  is  the 
oldest  and  bears  the  most  comprehensive  t3rpe.  It  teems  with  the 
oracular  inscriptions  of  entombed  empires,  and  either  affords  infor- 
mation where  other  testimonies  are  silent,  or  confirms  the  facts 
which  more  dubious  history  asserts.  Within  its  ruined  temples 
yet  linger  the  echoes  of  cycles  long  since  departed,  and  which 
symbolized  on  their  track  the  mightiest  imj^ulses  of  emulative  na- 
tions in  those  monuments  which  inventive  genius,  coalescing  with 
constructive  skill,  stamped  with  the  attractions  of  beauty  and 
strength. 

Egyptian  civilization  was  thoroughly  exclusive,  and  possessed  no 
disposition  to  diffuse  itself.  On  the  contrary,  the  Indo-Germanic 
race  rapidly  assimilated  surrounding  nations  to  itself,  and  with  that 
energetic  spirit  of  propagandism  which  was  its  primary  element, 
made  the  reservoir  of  its  accumulated  worth  the  fountain  of  all 
subsequent  culture.  The  great  Surya  people  of  northern  India  are 
supposed  to  be  the  original  Cyclopceans  who  reared  the  gloomy 
grandeur  of  Egyptian  Thebes,  and  the  magnificence  of  Solomon's 
temple,  who  constructed  the  Catabothra  of  Boeotia,  drained  the 
valleys  of  Thessaly,  constructed  the  canals  of  Ceylon,  and  left  the 
venerable  walls  of  Mycenae  on  their  westward  course. 

The  monuments  of  the  East  attest  the  unreasoning  submission 
of  thousands  to  despotic  power,  and  teem  with  the  reminiscences 
of  gloomy  superstition,  but  both  in  outline  and  execution,  the  spirit 
of  the  beautiful  is  wanting.  Vestiges  of  Assyiia,  like  an  earlier 
Pompeii,  have  lately  been  disinterred,  and  we  are  permitted  to  look 
upon,  perhaps,  the  identical  figures  on  which  the  prophets  gazed. 


ART. 


49 


and  which  so  moved  Aholibah,  when  "she  saw  men  portrayed 
upon  the  wall,  the  images  of  the  Chaldeans  portrayed  with  vermil- 
ion, girdled  with  girdles  upon  their  loins,  exceeding  in  dyed  attire 
upon  their  heads,  all  of  them  princes  to  look  to,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Babylonians  of  Chaldea,  the  land  of  their  nativity."  Ezek. 
xxiii.  14,  15.  Persian  art,  judging  from  what  has  recently  been 
brought  to  light,  combined  much  of  Egypt  and  Assyria  in  its  man- 
ner. The  types  of  wisdom  and  power,  and  even  the  Persian  alpha- 
bet, were  of  Assyrian  character. 

The  temple  which  the  monarch  of  Israel  dedicated,  and  his  de^ 
votion  enriched,  owed  its  artistic  attractions  to  Tyrian  sldll.  The 
descriptions  of  these  preserved  in  the  archives  of  Judea,  clearly 
vindicate  the  justness  of  Homer's  representations  respecting  the 
precious  metals  of  the  East,  and  the  progress  there  made  in  orna- 
mental art.  Even  females  could  divide  the  prey :  "  To  Sisera,  a 
prey  of  colors  of  needle  work  on  both  sides,  meet  for  the  necks  of 
them  that  take  the  spoil."  Judg.  v.  30.  Of  such,  the  treasury  of 
Priam  was  replenished,  and  Sidonian  artists  were  not  less  expert, 
Helen  embroiders  a  picture  of  a  battle  between  the  Greeks  and 
Trojans ;  Andromache  transfers  flowers  to  a  transparent  vail ;  and 
Penelope  weaves  a  web  of  pensive  beauty,  honorable  to  the  hand 
of  filial  piety,  to  grace  the  funeral  of  Laertes.  Many  evidences 
demonstrate  that  the  whole  of  Greece,  from  the  era  of  the  sup- 
posed godships  of  Poseidon  and  Zeus,  down  to  the  close  of  the  Tro- 
^*an  war,  was  Indian  not  only  in  language  and  religion,  but  in  all 
the  arts  of  war  and  peace. 

The  discovery  and  use  of  metals  hold  the  first  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  human  progress,  and  in  the  momentous  origin  of  the  mur- 
derous sword,  we  have  the  first  of  inventions.  The  fratricide  Cain 
fled  to  central  Asia,  the  cradle  of  ambitious  conquest,  and  there 
hereditary  classes,  trades,  and  arts  arose.  Thence  descended  east- 
ward, the  nomadic  tribes  who  still  wander  amid  the  va?t  remains  of 
the  primitive  mining  operations  of  the  oriental  world.  From  the 
more  amiable  Seth,  the  patriarchs  of  peace  emigrated  in  another 
direction  to  people  cities,  foster  science,  promote  writing,  and  trans- 
mit sacred  traditions  on  durable  monuments  of  stone.  The  strug- 
gle of  contrasted  races  is  the  leading  subject  of  all  history,  and  its 
primary  development  lies  between  the  passion  shown  by  one  for 


50 


PEEICLES. 


war,  and  by  the  other  for  more  peaceful  arts.   Moab,  AmmoD, 
Bashan,  the  giants  of  barbarism,  have  ever  moved  westward  in  ad- 
vance of  the  vanguard  of  civilization,  and  been  vanquished  thereby. 

The  infancy  of  Greek  art  was  the  infancy  of  a  Hercules,  who 
strangled  serpents  in  his  cradle.  However  superior  as  to  intrinsic 
worth,  it  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  an  offspring  of  Egypt.  As 
we  have  seen  in  western  literature,  a  kind  of  hereditary  lineage 
connects  it  with  the  East,  and  this  is  attested  by  evidence  too  pal- 
pable to  be  denied.  Native  elements  appear  to  have  combined 
with  foreign  art  in  Assyria ;  but  Nimroud  and  Karsabad  prove  that 
the  style  of  that  intermediate  region,  at  a  certain  period  of  its  de- 
velopment, was  directly  derived  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  The 
Assyrian  types  of  art  furnished  Lydia  and  Caria,  probably,  with 
improved  elements,  from  whom  the  Asiatic  Greeks  obtained  the 
means  of  advancing  toward  that  high  excellence  which  the  most  re- 
fined race  was  destined  to  achieve.  The  earliest  proofs  of  their  skill 
come  to  us  on  coins,  and  that  the  Lydians  were  the  first  on  earth 
to  excel  in  that  kind  of  work.  Homer  distinctly  asserts.  But  wh^ilQ 
an  Asiatic  origin  must  be  assigned  to  all  the  arts  of  Greece,  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Hellenic  organization  alone  per- 
fected each  and  every  department  with  that  exquisite  refinement 
which  no  other  people  has  ever  been  able  to  attain.  Their  wonder- 
ful originality  is  indicated  by  the  fact,  that  their  very  earliest  coin^ 
possess  in  their  embryo  state,  the  germs  of  that  beauty  and  sub- 
limity  which  afterward  were  realized  by  the  greatest  artists  in  their 
grandest  works.  In  the  smallest  seal,  as  in  the  most  colossal  form, 
the  charming  simplicity  and  repose  prevail,  which  forever  mark 
the  leading  traits  of  the  Attic  mind.  Coins  made  of  gold  in  Asia, 
preceded  the  silver  coinage  of  Athens,  but  even  in  this  earliest  im- 
print of  archaic  skill,  we  see  rudely  executed  all  that  which  sub^- 
quently  characterized  those  groups  of  Centaurs  and  Amazons  th3i 
enriched  the  metopes  and  pediments  of  the  Parthenon. 

When  compared  with  Indian  and  Egyptian  remains,  the  Persian 
column  must  be  considered  as  presenting  an  approximation  to  ^he 
perfect  form,  and  yet  it  lacks  that  purity  of  taste,  that  refined  sifid 
chastened  intellect,  which  distinguishes  the  works  of  Greece.  The 
lotus  and  palm,  were  indeed  imitated  at  Cai'nak  and  Persepolis,  but 
Athens  saw  the  acanthus  and  honeysuckle  sm'mount  shafts  of  manly 


AET. 


51 


strength  with  amarynths  of  beauty  such  as  the  East  never  knew. 
India  excavated  the  cell,  and  Egypt  quarried  the  column ;  then 
came  Greece  to  perfect  the  entablature  system,  and  add  that  crown- 
ing glory,  the  triangular  pediment.  The  three  orders  in  their  suc- 
cession, exhausted  every  realm  of  invention,  and  perfected  structu- 
ral types  unsurpassed  by  human  powei^s  ;  and  while  the  mechanical 
principles  remained  identified  with  the  most  unadorned  Cyclopean 
gateway,  or  rudest  cromlech,  an  exquisite  system  of  ornament  em- 
braced every  feature,  and  refined  all  into  consummate  dignity  and 
elegance. 

All  the  institutions  of  Greece  bore  the  impressive  signet  of 
national  character.  In  government,  dialect,  and  invention,  despite 
minor  differences,  there  was  a  general  uniformity  which  rendered 
them  distinct,  not  only  from  Phoenicians  or  Egyptians,  but  also  from 
the  kindred  inhabitants  of  Lydia,  Italy,  and  Macedonia.  Though 
at  the  beginning  germs  were  derived  from  the  East,  it  is  not  less 
true  that  at  the  time  of  ripest  maturity  not  the  least  tinge  of  foreign 
influence  was  discernible  in  their  literature,  politics,  religion  or  art. 
Grecian  architecture,  especially,  like  their  poetry,  was  the  natural 
expression  of  the  national  mind.  It  was  influenced  by  the  peculiarity 
of  the  land  in  which  it  originated,  and  was  more  than  national ;  it 
was  local,  bom  under  the  sky  of  Hellas  only,  and  in  no  colony  did 
it  ever  attain  the  comprehensive  beauty  which  signalized  the  city 
of  its  birth.  Sparta  might  boast  of  the  hard  bones  and  muscles  of 
well-trained  athletes,  but  grace  and  beauty  never  entered  her  walls. 
The  Athenians  borrowed  materials  and  suggestions  from  diverse 
sources,  but  their  skill  was  entirely  their  own.  They  invented  all 
the  component  parts  of  classic  architecture,  the  proportions, 
characters,  and  distinctions,  with  a  corresponding  nomenclature  by 
which  each  order  and  every  ornament  is  still  designated.  Symmetry, 
proportion,  and  decoration ;  the  soHdity  and  gracefulness  of  nature, 
reUeved  by  historical  sculpture,  and  illuminated  by  chromatic 
splendor,  with  the  perfection  of  reason  interpenetrating  and  presiding 
over  all,  constituted  that  perfect  model  of  noble  simplicity  which 
always  attracts  and  never  offends. 

The  Dorians  produced  the  first  pure  architectural  style,  and  carried 
it  to  the  highest  perfection,  without  any  assistance  from  the  fallen 
palaces  of  the  Atreidse.    The  -^schylean  majesty  was  the  highest 


52 


PERICLES. 


conception  of  even  that  extraordinary  people.  The  Parthenon  was 
the  noblest  production  of  the  noblest  masters,  and  should  be  accepted 
as  the  highest  exemplification  of  the  national  skill. 

The  order  of  columns  at  Persepolis  seems  to  be  the  proto-Ionic, 
as  certain  pillars  have  been  supposed  to  be  proto-Dorics,  but  neither, 
in  fact,  deserve,  in  the  slightest  degree,  that  admiration  which 
belongs  legitimately  to  those  honored  names.  The  temple  of  the 
Ilissus  was  the  most  ancient  monument  of  the  true  middle  order, 
and  was  a  significant  prelude  to  those  more  glorious  works  destined 
to  immortalize  the  administration  of  Pericles  when  freed  from  the 
rivalry  of  Cimon,  the  restraints  of  the  Areopagus,  and  the  opposing 
aristocrats.  Within  twenty  years  all  the  grandest  works  were 
executed,  and  then  the  point  of  culmination  in  that  lovely  land  was 
forever  passed. 

Of  the  three  orders  perfected  by  the  Greeks,  the  Corinthian  would 
appear  to  be  the  most  entirely  original,  and,  at  the  time  of  its 
invention,  the  exactest  symbol  of  their  mind.  The  flower  had 
fully  bloomed,  and  decrepitude  was  already  begun.  They  could  no 
longer  adequately  execute  the  Doric  order,  with  its  integral  sculp- 
ture and  painting,  and  had  ceased  to  be  satisfied  with  the  chaste 
gracefulness  of  Asiatic  volutes.  They  began  by  raising  the  honey- 
suckle from  around  the  necking  of  the  Ionic  capital,  and  extended 
it  over  a  vase-form  under  a  light  abacus,  intermingled  with  a  few 
rosettes,  but  omitting  altogether  the  volutes.  To  this  was  after 
ward  added  the  Persepolitan  water-leaf,  and  finally  the  crisp 
acanthus  of  Attica  gave  a  rich  variety  to  the  order,  which  consti- 
tutes its  crowning  charm.  The  choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates 
is  the  only  pure  type  of  this  style  ;  and  if  sculpture  and  painting 
must  be  banished  from  architecture,  this  is,  doubtless,  the  most 
beautiful  order  extant. 

Architecture  expresses  the  difference  among  races,  as  language 
does  the  variety  of  dialects.  The  Dorians  built  in  the  same  style 
that  was  employed  by  Pindar,  ^schylus,  and  Thucydides  in  speech. 
The  simplicity  and  elegance  of  the  lonians  are  exemplified  in  their 
temple  graces,  not  less  than  in  Homer's  matchless  verse,  and  the 
smooth  rythm  of  Herodotus.  The  Corinthians,  refined  to  effeminacy, 
were  the  last  architectural  inventors  in  the  old  world,  and  they 
stamped  upon  their  production  the  delicate  luxuriance  which 


AKT. 


53 


characterizes  the  language  of  Isocrates.  The  opposing  principles  of 
Dorism  and  lonism  which  prevailed  in  all  the  institutions  of  Greece, 
politics,  literature,  customs,  and  art,  were  boldly  embodied  in  sculp- 
ture and  architecture.  The  former  came  from  Egypt,  and  the  latter 
from  Asia ;  but  both  were  alike  indebted  to  western  genius  for  the 
refined  symmetry  which  their  respective  orders  finally  assumed. 
The  zenith  of  perfection  was  not  reached  until  the  Doric  influence 
w^as  impregnated  by  the  Ionic,  the  material  by  the  spiritual,  and 
Corinthian  delicacy  was  born  to  perish  in  the  grave  of  its  exhausted 
parents. 

Egyptian  sculpture  was  the  archaic  state  of  Greek  sculpture, 
as  is  clearly  indicated  by  specimens  yet  extant.  The  types  of  the 
Nile,  which  remained  unchanged  through  many  centuries,  were  no 
sooner  transferred  to  the  Hissus  than  a  wonderful  improvement  suc- 
ceeded. The  remains  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  in  ^gina  show  the 
metamorphosis  of  the  uncouth  East  into  the  refinement  of  the  West 
in  the  very  act  of  taking  place.  The  heads  of  the  figures  are 
Egyptian,  according  to  the  prescriptive  sanctity  of  priestly  rule, 
heavy  and  immobile ;  but  the  limbs  are  detached,  and  move  with 
the  natural  freedom  of  Greek  taste.  The  conservative  East  regarded 
innovation  as  destructive  of  the  divine,  while  the  progressive  West  - 
sought  for  near  approach  to  divinity  in  increased  perfection. 
Hence  the  figure  of  Minerva  on  this  edifice,  the  central  one  of  the 
pediment,  is  more  oriental  than  the  rest,  as  if  less  liberty  should  be 
taken  with  the  personal  image  of  a  being  fully  divine ;  but  this 
hereditary  scruple  was  soon  overcome,  and,  in  direct  contrast  with 
Egypt,  Grecian  deities  became  most  celestial  in  form. 

The  progress  of  perfected  sculpture  was  striking  and  continuous. 
The  Herma  w^as  the  first  step  in  true  statuesque  art,  when  the 
Greek  placed  a  human  head  on  a  pillar  by  the  w^ayside,  fashioned 
after  the  proportions  of  the  human  form.  Then  the  resemblance  of 
life  extended  to  the  loins,  preparatory  to  that  further  realization  when 
the  bust  spread  vital  beaut}^  and  activity  throughout  every  speaking 
feature  or  graceful  limb,  rendering  the  statue  complete.  Last  of  all 
came  the  associated  group,  simultaneous  with  architectonic  perfec- 
tion, to  which  it  added  manifold  charms.  Then  was  the  memo- 
rable era  when  the  images  of  gods  and  heroes  possessed  not  less 
truth  and  majesty  than  if  the  divinities  had  themselves  sat  for  their 


54 


PERICLES. 


pictured  or  sculptured  portraits ;  and  all  this  resulted  because  art 
had  become  the  greatest  national  activity,  and  the  entire  nation  was 
merely  a  transcend  ant  artist.  In  a  chronological  review,  the  ancient 
monuments  of  Asia  and  Egypt  must  be  considered  before  those  of 
Greece ;  but  the  true  history  of  art,  in  its  continuous  development, 
as  in  every  other  civilizing  power,  began  alone  with  that  sagacious 
people.  To  the  last,  the  East  retained  in  its  sculpture  those  sym- 
bolical images  which  are  utterly  destructive  of  elegance  in  imitative 
representations ;  but  the  West  soon  emancipated  itself,  and  came 
step  by  step  to  ehcit  from  marble  perfected  human  features  under 
the  attitude  and  aspect  of  divinity.  Therein  is  most  clearly  traced 
the  mysterious  symbolism  of  the  inner  mind  of  that  people.  The 
reaspn  and  imagination  of  Greece  were  poured  with  profusion  and 
power  into  artistic  creations,  and  the  faculties  from  which  these 
works  sprang  are  in  turn  most  forcibly  addressed.  Like  excites 
like ;  and  if  ancient  sculpture  shines  on,  through  all  time,  with 
inextinguishable  beams,  it  is  simply  because  the  original  creation 
transpired  under  the  transmuting  and  glorifying  influeuce  of  impas- 
sioned thought.  Supremacy  in  art  among  that  people  was  not 
an  accidental  inspiration  of  a  few  artists,  but  the  predominant  spirit 
of  the  age  and  great  heritage  of  a  race.  Their  language  was  the 
first  organ  of  speech  thoroughly  eliminated,  and  art,  its  correlative, 
was  the  highest  material  medium  of  mind.  The  mystery  of  the 
human  form  was  accurately  conceived  by  the  Hellenic  genius,  and 
thus  the  mythological  Sphinx,  whose  motto  is  Man,  which  had  ever 
been  inaccessible  to  the  race  of  Shem,  was  by  Japhetic  intellect 
clearly  revealed.  In  her  most  glorious  days,  the  sumptuous  temples 
of  Athens,  amid  the  elaborate  graces  of  their  moldings,  the  living 
foliage  of  their  capitals,  and  the  multiform  friezes  whereon  Lapithae 
and  Centaurs  exhibited  the  most  impressive  action,  did  yet  preserve 
the  same  outline  of  simplicity  with  which  the  wooden  hut  of 
Pelasgus  was  marked. 

In  consequence  of  the  excitement,  surprise,  joy,  and  glory  of  their 
first  conquest  over  the  Persians,  the  Greeks  developed  all  their  en- 
ergies, and  the  brief  period  of  their  highest  excellence  terminated 
soon  after  the  final  triumph  over  that  great  foe,  so  inseparable  is 
national  enthusiasm  from  exalted  perfection  in  art.  The  Parthenon 
and  Propylfea  were  trophies  of  Marathon  and  Salamis,  monuments 


ART. 


55 


of  past  success,  and  pledges  of  future  progress.  Tlien  supreme 
hoindge  was  paid  to  superior  talent ;  and  popular  admiration,  as  pro- 
found as  it  was  general,  gave  birth  to  those  masterly  productions 
jts  pantings  deserved.  The  same  combination  of  boldness  and 
gentleness  which  constitutes  the  very  essence  of  classic  literature, 
imparted  its  peculiar  expression  to  the  plastic  art  of  Greece.  Both, 
in  their  best  days,  were  equally  imbued  with  that  lofty  impulse 
which  aiitique  traditions  excited,  and  the  national  genius  was  most 
ambitious  to  perpetuate.  The  Persians  brought  marble  with  them, 
intending  to  erect  a  memorial  of  the  anticipated  victory,  which  their 
conquerors  appropriated,  and  commissioned  Phidias  to  cut  it  into  a 
statue  of  JSTemesis.  Such  was  the  destiny  of  all  oriental  elements, 
and  the  use  made  of  them  by  the  valiant  genius  of  occidental  re- 
publicans. When  the  first  great  battle  of  opinion  had  been  won, 
y^and  the  Persian,  like  the  Mede,  was  overthrown,  a  few  years  of  act- 
ii;^»freedom  produced  more  of  civilizing  art,  than  had  been  gener- 
ated under  the  pressure  of  whole  centuries  of  despotic  repose. 

The  art  of  the  first  Pharaohs,  as  well  as  that  of"  the  last  Ptole- 
mies, is  brought  down  to  us  in  well  preserved  reUcs,  smd  by  means 
ofc  these,  at  a  single  glance,  we  can  survey  a  boundless  historic  pe- 
riod, during  which,  in  the  first  progressive  land,  civilization  had 
passed  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  point ;  from  the  Pelasgi  to 
the  Parthenon,  from  the  wooden  v/orks  of  Daedalus  to  the  marble 
glories  of  Phidias ;  from  the  fabulous  Orpheus,  and  mythological 
Amphion,  to  Homer  and  Sophocles ;  in  a  word,  from  Cecrops  to 
Pericles,  But  on  the  Nile,  beyond  certain  ignoble  and  arbitrary 
types,  sculpture  never  advanced.  Daedalus  is  reputed  to  have  been 
the  first  statuary  in  Greece,  but  he  was  more  of  a  mechanist  than 
sculptor^  the  architect  of  labyrinths,  carver  of  wood,  and  inventor 
of  wings.  He  was  the  countryman  and  cotemporary  of  The- 
seus, equal  to  that  hero  in  the  adventures  of  his  life,  born  of  a  royal 
race,  admired  for  his  works  while  living,  and  honored  by  the  Egyp- 
tians with  a  special  chapel  after  death.  About  two  centuries  later, 
appeared  DijxEmus  and  Scyllis.  They  were  born  in  Crete,  under  the 
Median  empire,  but  worked  at  Sicyon,  and  made  statues  of  Apollo, 
Diana,  Minerva,  and  Hercules.  They  were  the  fii"st  to  use  the  white 
marble  of  Paros,  and  gave  to  each  divinity  a  peculiar  personal  ap- 
pearance so  entirely  distinct,  as  to  cauge  the  offensive  symbohsm  of 


56 


PERICLES. 


preceding  art  to  be  laid  aside.  The  slow  progress  of  sculpture  may 
be  further  traced,  until  a  single  mighty  master  raised  his  profession 
to  a  height,  of  which  the  world  had  entertained  no  previous  con- 
ception. The  Greeks  could  produce  beauty  without  meretricious 
ornament,  delicacy  without  affectation,  strength  without  coarseness, 
and  the  highest  degree  of  action  without  the  slightest  disturbance 
of  equilibrium.  Proud  only  of  progressive  invention^  they  preserved 
their  first  rude  monuments  side  by  side  with  their  later  master- 
pieces, and  appealed  to  this  aggregate  as  the  true  archives  of  no- 
bility, their  highest  credentials  to  glory.  The  plastic  sense,  which 
usually  disappears  with  the  infancy  of  nations,  was  fostered  to  the 
fullness  of  adult  perfection  among  this  people.  Whatever  of  beauty 
real  objects  supplied  to  their  hands,  the  inspiration  of  fervid  genius 
transfigured  into  the  most  beautiful  idealized  forms.  As  was  said 
by  one  of  their  number,  the  higher  nature  of  the  divinities  passed 
into  the  arts ;  and  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  sculpture  especi- 
ally, did  wear  a  celestial  aspect  in  its  representation  of  glorified 
heroes  and  the  highest  gods.  The  law  which  Plato  long  after  pre- 
scribed to  artists,  seems  to  have  been  instinctively  observed  from  the 
earliest  era,  "  that  they  should  create  nothing  illiberal  or  deformed, 
as  well  as  nothing  immoral  and  loose,  but  should  everywhere  strive 
to  attain  to  the  nature  of  the  beautiful  and  the  becoming."  Latent 
v^orth  doubtless  lay  imprisoned  in  the  uncouth  sculpture  of  the 
East,  but  it  was  only  when  moved  westward,  that  the  fair  prisoner 
was  set  free ;  like  Aphrodite,  born  without  a  pang,  in  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  sea,  and  landed  on  the  blooming  shore  of  Paphos, 
redolent  of  spontaneous  charms. 

Homer,  and  the  other  poets,  as  they  were  the  fountains  of  all 
other  elements  of  culture,  nourished  also  the  plastic  sense  in  the 
common  mind.  From  the  tragic  writers,  especially,  emanated  a 
world  of  sculpture,  so  that  nearly  all  the  great  spirits  generated  in 
the  regions  of  fable,  were  happily  embodied  in  substantial  art. 
Hipparchus,  a  few  years  before  the  birth  of  Phidias,  formed  the 
first  public  library  at  Athens,  and  placed  therein  the  complete 
works  of  Homer,  Hesiod,  Sappho,  Anacreon,  and  Simonides.  The 
public  games  were  not  less  favorable  in  their  influence  on  plastic 
art.  They  were  great  artistic  congresses,  wherein  each  department 
was  exhibited  for  the  special  benefit  of  itself,  and  in  regular  succea- 


ART. 


57 


Bion ;  just  like  various  pieces  of  music  at  a  modern  concert,  without 
discord  between  them.  Not  only  in  the  popular  poetry,  but  in  the 
public  manners  as  well,  was  manifested  that  refined  grace  and  equa- 
nimity between  excessive  freedom  and  coarse  formality,  which  was 
embodied  in  sculpture  as  its  highest  form.  The  second  desire  of 
Simonides,  was,  that  he  might  possess  a  handsome  figure,  and  the 
gymnastic  exercises  customary  in  the  healthful  serenity  of  his  native 
land,  did  much  to  realize  the  wish.  The  most  eminent  men  in 
their  youth,  sought  renown  in  the  development  of  natural  qualities, 
and  thereby  laid  a  substantial  basis  for  the  magnificence  of  ac- 
quired accomplishments.  Each  successful  competitor  was  honored 
with  a  statue  of  the  highest  order  and  most  perfect  resemblance. 
Hieratic  models  were  utterly  discarded,  and  not  only  was  the  real 
portrait  preserved,  but  also  the  very  attitude  in  which  the  victory 
was  gained.  Even  horses  which  had  borne  off  prizes,  were  repro- 
duced by  the  exactest  imitative  skill,  and  all  the  most  natural  forms 
were  elevated  to  that  ideal  of  perfection  which  constituted  the 
models  af  excellence,  and  the  best  incentive  to  yet  higher  improve- 
ment of  surpassing  worth. 

We  have  observed  that  Hermes  were  the  first  sculptured  produc- 
tions of  Greece.  These  most  abounded  at  Athens,  where,  for  a  long 
time,  the  word  Hermoglyph  was  the  only  term  in  use  to  designate 
a  sculptor  of  any  kind.  But  soon  after  the  Persians  had  despoiled 
that  city  of  her  ancient  monuments,  she  acquired  immense  resources, 
by  which,  under  the  guidance  of  superlative  taste,  she  soon  arose 
to  be  the  head  of  the  national  confederacy,  and  most  splendid  abode 
of  art.  Architects  and  sculptors,  painters,  lapidaries,  and  w^orkers 
in  precious  metals  vied  with  each  other  in  adorning  the  lettered 
empress  of  earth  and  sea.  The  monuments  of  Ictinus,  Phidias, 
CaUicrates,  and  Mnesicles  arose,  surrounded  with  kindred  glories, 
thenceforth  to  become  master-pieces  for  the  emulation  of  mankind. 
What  was  especially  needed,  was  something  that  would  mold  all 
surrounding  elements  of  beauty  into  one  perfect  and  homogeneous 
whole,  like  the  unity  of  diversified  expressions  in  the  opera,  and 
this  was  gloriously  realized  in  the  perfected  temple.  Appropriate 
material  was  quarried  from  Paros  and  Pentelicus,  which  when 
wrought  into  graceful  and  sublime  forms,  stood  on  the  terraced 
height  in  serene  majesty,  and  glowed  through  the  sparkling  atmos- 

3* 


58 


PERICLES. 


pliere  with  enhanced  splendor  borrowed  from  harmonized  colors  and 
burnished  gold.  In  Greece,  history  and  art  from  the  beginning, 
were  closely  allied.  The  breastplates,  helmets,  and  shields,  as  well 
as  altars,  temples,  and  tombs,  were  all  made  to  glorify  an  honored 
ancestry,  through  the  blandishments  of  material  art.  Homer  and 
Hesiod  brightened  the  dawn  of  national  renown,  as  they  sang  the 
artistic  triumphs  of  Vulcan,  embossed  on  the  weapons  which  Her- 
cules and  Achilles  bore.  The  arcades  of  nature,  and  the  canopied 
walks  which  architecture  so  magnificently  provided,  were  trans- 
formed into  vast  galleries,  all  aglow  with  brilliantly  harmonized 
tints ;  and  a  wanderer  the  most  remote  from  the  metropolis,  still 
found  the  annals  of  his  country  embodied  in  marble,  and  each  great 
personage  strongly  characterized  by  the  sculptor's  chisel.  Every 
subordinate  democracy  had  its  Prytaneum,  Odeon,  Pnyx,  Gymna- 
sium, and  Theatres ;  and  when  Athens  usurped  pre-eminent  control, 
her  citizens  were  proud  to  erect  public  monuments  worthy  of  her 
ambition,  and  whose  dazzling  magnificence  should  reconcile  the 
other  states  to  her  supremacy.  So  greatly  was  this  the  passion  of 
the  people  themselves,  that  when  Pericles  proposed  to  exonerate 
them  from  debts  incurred  by  the  immense  works  of  his  adminis- 
tration, if  he  might  be  permitted  to  inscribe  them  with  his  owj). 
name,  the  proposition  was  rejected  at  once,  and  every  responsibihty 
was  cheerfully  accepted  as  their  own. 

Phidias  was  an  Athenian,  the  son  of  Charmidas,  and  cousin  to 
the  distinguished  painter,  Panaenus,  whose  associated  skill  he  em- 
ployed on  several  of  his  works.  Doubtless  this  fact  should  explain 
much  of  his  grace  of  outline,  and  power  of  relief.  He  proved  him- 
self equally  successful  in  the  sublime  and  minute,  by  turning  from 
the  awful  majesty  of  his  marble  Jupiter  to  stamp  like  perfection  on 
the  grasshopper  or  bee  of  bronze.  This  ^schylus  of  sculpture  be- 
gan with  works  in  ivory,  continued  to  develop  his  power  through 
statues  of  metal,  and  finally  attained  the  highest  excellence  in  co- 
lossal marble  gToups.  He  was  born  under  the  full  blaze  of  Grecian 
freedom,  and  carried  his  profession  to  the  loftiest  height  of  excellence, 
through  a  knowledge  of  all  the  arts  and  sciences  that  could  enhance 
its  attraction,  or  dignify  its  pursuit.  He  was  not  only  a  painter 
and  poet,  but  was  also  familiar  with  the  gorgeous  fictions  of  myth- 
ology, and  the  more  sober  records  of  history,  the  knowledge  of 


ART. 


59 


optics,  and  the  severest  discipline  of  geometric  science.  It  is 
probable  that  Phidias  planned  all  the  works  about  the  Parthenon, 
and  that  Callicrates  and  Ictinus  executed  the  architectural  portions, 
while  Alcamenes  and  other  pupils  wrought  nearly  to  the  surface 
most  of  the  sculptural  forms.  But  as  his  genius  outlined  the  gene- 
ral plan,  so  his  hand  imparted  the  finishing  touch  to  the  varied 
parts. 

The  most  marked  characteristic  of  the  first  half  of  the  Periclean 
5ige  was  placid  majesty.  Jupiter  sat  in  supreme  quietude,  with 
thunderbolts  resting  in  his  lap ;  Juno  reposed  on  her  own  feminine 
dignity ;  and  Minerva  showed  supreme  power,  less  through  outward 
impulse  than  by  sovereign  self-control,  and  inward  intent.  When 
the  highest  period  of  calm  beauty  was  passed,  and  another  cycle 
ii'rew  n^r,  full  of  force,  greater  excitement  is  exhibited  in  corr^ 
sponding  art,  and  with  increased  harmony  with  the  changed  spirit 
-it  portrayed.  Such  was  Niobe  and  her  children,  pursued  by  Apollo 
Diana,  Gladiators  in  mortal  struggle,  and  the  passionate  group 
<)f  Laoeoon.  But  at  the  best  period  no  Greek  artist  would  ever  in- 
troduce in  sculpture  grim  Pluto  and  sad  Proserpine,  or  the  monster 
Cerberus,  He  loved  every  thing  that  was  beautiful ;  and,  instead 
of  damaging  the  uniform  placidity  of  his  -vvorks  with  such  images 
<if  terror  and  aversion,  he  represented  even  the  Furies  as  bearing  a 
sQrene  countenance.  TJiis  calmness  is  the  prevailing  charm  of 
Oreek  art.  Its  great  depth,  like  that  of  the  sea,  remains  undis- 
turbed, however  much  the  tempests  may  rage ;  and  so,  in  their 
artistic  figures :  under  every  billow  of  passion  reposes  a  great,  self- 
collected  soul.  We  may  often  be  called  to  contemplate  the  strug- 
.gling  of  brave  heroes,  but  they  are  never  altogether  overcome  by 
their  pangs.  The  strongest  emotions  do  not  repel  the  spectatof, 
but  attract  him  rather ;  as  in  the  dying  Gladiator,  or  tortured  Lao- 
coon.  While  the  misery  we  contemplate  pierces  to  the  very  soul, 
It  yet  inspires  us  with  a  wish  that  we  could  endure  with  a  fortitude 
lil^e  that  we  see.  Beauty  was  latent  in  Periclean  Greeks,  like  fire 
ifa  crystal,  which,  however  brilliant  when  excited,  habitually  rests 
in  quiet,  and  robs  not  its  abode  of  either  purity  or  strength.  They 
were  as  full  of  emotion  as  of  heroism,  and,  as  Agamemnon,  aftei* 
the  victory,  poured  tears  on  the  funeral  pyre,  they  were  nevei* 
braver  than  at  the  very  time  they  wept.    Winkleman  suggests, 


60 


PEEICLES. 


that  beauty  with  the  ancients  was  the  balance  of  expression,  and, 
in  this  respect,  the  groups  of  Niobe  and  Laocoon  are  the  best  ex- 
amples; the  one  in  the  sublime  and  serious,  the  other  in  the 
learned  and  ornamental  style. 

But  the  glory  of  Athens,  as  a  single  figure,  and  marking  the 
highest  culmination,  was  Minerva,  of  the  Parthenon.  Above  all 
others  she  bore  the  charms  of  celestial  youth,  under  the  expression 
of  severest  virtue.  Doubtless  no  more  glorious  contrast  could  be 
found  to  the  stiflf  and  conventional  uncouthness  of  the  Memnonian 
statues,  than  was  produced  in  that  fine  realization  of  cultivated  in- 
tellect invested  with  invincible  power.  The  spirit  of  the  beautiful 
was  embodied  in  her  whose  masculine  wisdom  was  tempered  with 
feminine  grace,  the  severity  of  dominion  softened  into  elegance, 
and  the  sedateness  of  philosophy  dissolved  in  the  fervor  of  patriotic 
enthusiasm.  Her  majestic  form  of  ivory  rose  forty  feet  in  the  daz- 
zled air,  draped  in  robes  and  ornaments  of  gold.  At  her  feet  lay 
a  shield,  covered  with  exquisite  sculpture,  representing,,  on  the  con- 
vex side,  the  Amazonian  war,  the  Athenian  leader  being  the  por- 
trait of  Pericles,  and  on  the  concave  side  were  giants  warring 
against  heaven.  On  her  golden  sandals  were  depicted  the  battle 
of  the  Centaurs.  By  special  decree  the  Athenians  forbade  Phidias 
from  inscribing  his  name  on  this,  the  divinest  Pallas  of  his  creation, 
in  order  that  they  might  share  equally  among  themselves  the  honor 
of  an  undertaking  which  the  people  in  common  had  conceived  and 
sustained. 

The  grandest  inspiration  came  from  Marathon,  and  was  exem- 
plified in  that  glorious  art  which  best  expressed  the  manliness  of 
the  Grecian  race,  and  rose  highest  in  the  republic  in  its  freest  hour. 
From  the  battle  of  Salamis  to  Pericles,  scarcely  fifty  years  elapsed, 
in  which  brief  period  art  had  advanced  from  eastern  archaism  to 
the  most  refined  western  excellence,  from  the  rude  carving  of  Seli- 
nus  to  the  consummate  sculptures  of  the  Parthenon.  The  finest 
group  of  antiquity  is  preserved  to  us  from  the  western  front  of  that 
magnificent  temple.  Notwithstanding  the  variety  of  the  figures,  there 
is  not  one  which  is  inert,  or  which  represents  a  perpendicular  line. 
In  the  centre  are  Neptune,  with  the  trident  in  his  left  hand,  and 
Minerva,  with  the  spear  in  her  right,  with  their  chariots  and  at- 
tendants.   The  goddess  of  wisdom  wields  the  strongest  hand,  and 


ABT. 


61 


the  sculptor  lias  so  adroitly  managed  the  composition,  as  to  place 
Neptune  in  the  way  of  his  own  horses,  while  Minerva  is  allowed 
free  passage  in  her  nobler  career.  This  pediment,  looking  down 
upon  the  mighty  metropolis,  and  the  .^Egean  bathing  its  western 
brim,  bore  a  record  and  prophecy  of  high  significance  to  him  who 
approached  by  land  or  sea. 

Cimon  ornamented  the  public  squares  of  Athens  from  his  private 
fortune ;  and  Pericles  added  markets,  halls,  gymnasia,  and  temples, 
all  of  which  he  caused  to  be  adorned  w^ith  innumerable  statues  by 
superior  masters.  The  crowded  wonders  of  the  Acropolis,  in  par- 
ticular, seemed  to  the  astonished  visitor,  one  great  ofiering,  the 
aggregate  of  national  enthusiasms  expressed  in  transcendant  art. 
Toward  this  subordinate  Olympus,  a  gigantic  flight  of  steps  con- 
ducted through  the  Propylaea,  which  opened  its  fivefold  gates  of 
bronze  to  a  world  of  men  and  gods  in  precious  forms,  peopling 
marble  halls,  and  adorning  brilliant  shrines.  Here,  for  the  temple 
of  Polias,  Phidias  erected  that  statue  of  Minerva  whose  brazen 
helmet  gleamed  far  off"  to  greet  the  mariner  as  he  doubled  the  Su- 
nian  promontory;  and  that  other  Pallas,  named  the  Xemnian 
beauty  ;  and  a  third,  the  "  immortal  maid,"  and  protectress  of  the 
Parthenon,  to  whose  colossal  fascinations  of  ivory  and  gold  allusion 
has  already  been  made.  So  much  were  that  democratic  people 
animated  with  the  passion  of  Pericles,  which  themselves  had  mainly 
inspired,  that  when  Phidias  recommended  marble  as  being  a  cheaper 
material  than  ivory  for  the  gigantic  figure  required,  it  was  for  that 
very  reason  that  ivory  was  unanimously  preferred.  Miracles  indeed 
abounded  on  every  hand,  and  as  the  great  patron  and  perfecter  of 
them  all,  stood  there  the  incarnation  of  his  age,  each  masterpiece 
attested  the  culmination  of  that  glorious  star  which  blazed  in  tran- 
quil beauty  while  he  hved,  and  paled  in  tempest  when  he  died. 
The  outward  decline  of  Greece  was  strangely  sudden,  and  left  a 
blank  which  has  never  been  filled ;  but  the  empire  of  her  inner  spirit 
can  never  perish,  so  long  as  heroism  may  arouse,  poetry  enrapture, 
art  embellish,  or  wisdom  instruct  the  nations  in  their  predestined 
progress.  The  epitaph — Here  is  the  heart;  the  spirit  is  every- 
where— most  appropriately  belongs  to  the  capital  of  Attica.  From 
her  gates  went  forth  colonies  of  beautiful  intellect  throughout  the 
civiUzed  world ;  and  the  light  of  her  genius,  lingering  around  the 


62 


PERICLES. 


ruins  of  lier  skill,  still  serves  to  model  all  the  masterly  productions 
of  earth.  Like  the  venerable  Nestor's  cap  of  sculptured  gold,  the 
material  may  have  perished,  but  the  power  which  conceived  and 
executed  it  has  proved  itself  immortal. 

Proficiency  in  sculpture  was  at  one  time  widely  diffused ;  it  rose 
rapidly  to  the  highest  excellence,  and  as  rapidly  descended  to  a  cor- 
responding depth.  The  great  Socrates  was  himself  a  statuary. 
Pausanias  saw,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Athenian  Acropolis,  a  group 
of  Graces  draped,  which  was  executed  by  the  philosopher.  Prax- 
iteles, at  a  later  period,  was  distinguished  for  delicate  grace  and 
most  careful  finish.  When  Nicomedes,  of  Bythinia,  wished  to  pur- 
chase of  the  Cnidians  the  Aphrodite  by  this  artist,  with  the  condi- 
tion of  discharging  the  city  of  its  oppressive  debt,  they  preferred  to 
endure  any  hardship  rather  than  suffer  such  a  loss.  This  tender 
solicitude  for  the  preservation  of  the  beautiful  was  utterly  unlike  a 
mere  mania  for  museum  collections,  and  was  not  limited  to  plastic 
art ;  it  grew  up  in  common  with  all  Grecian  culture,  and  is  to  be 
found  in  all  the  phenomena  of  exalted  Hellenic  life.  Art  was  in- 
digenous to  that  prolific  soil,  and  graced  the  maturest  fruit,  as  well 
as  nourished  the  deepest  roots,  of  existence.  While  the  auspices 
of  freedom  remained,  she  constantly  derived  fresh  vigor,  as  Antaeus 
gained  strength  from  contact  with  mother  earth,  borrowing  radiance 
from  Olympus,  and  growing  in  conscious  companionship  with  heroes 
and  gods. 

Critias,  Nestoelis,  and  Hegias  succeeded  each  other  #ith  some 
distinction,  but  not  much  was  added  to  plastic  art  until  Polycletus 
was  born  to  raise  alto-relievo  to  perfection,  and  won  the  proud  re- 
nown of  being  the  Sophocles  of  sculpture.  He  excelled  in  exquisite 
s^^mmetry  and  superlative  polish.  The  statue  he  made  of  a  Persian 
life-guard  was  so  exact  in  its  proportions,  and  careful  in  its  finish, 
that  it  was  called  the  Rule.  But  the  highest  excellence  in  art  had 
passed,  and  Myron,  and  Scopas,  in  their  w^orks  which  commemorated 
war,  the  chase,  or  the  terrors  of  a  violent  death,  foretokened  the  tem- 
pestuous age  about  to  break  in  desolation  all  over  earth. 

Having  thus  briefly  sketched  the  progress  and  character  of  both 
architecture  and  sculpture,  let  us  now  glance  at  the  painting  of  the 
Periclean  age. 

As  we  have  before  said,  architecture  was  the  first  of  the  fine  arts, 


ART. 


63 


and  the  pursuit  of  the  beautiful  in  this  paved  the  way  for  all  the 
rest.  Color,  as  an  artistic  element,  was  first  used  to  define  hiero- 
glyphics, and  afterward  was  largely  employed  in  mural  decorations. 
The  most  characteristic  production  of  Egypt  was  its  obeUsks,  and 
these  have  made  the  world  best  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the 
East  by  being  transported  without  mutilation  to  the  great  cities  of 
the  West.  Artificial  tints  on  these  are  not  common,  but  masses  of 
wall  are  still  seen,  with  pictorial  representations  of  great  variety, 
almost  as  vivid  as  they  were  three  thousand  years  ago.  But  the 
type  and  form  of  her  mummies  was  all  that  ever  belonged  to  the 
land  of  the  Pharaohs  in  the  history  of  art.  Every  thing  which 
contained  life,  growth,  and  power,  from  the  simplest  wayside  Herma 
to  Jupiter  Olympus  on  his  resplendent  throne,  sprang  exclusively 
from  the  inventive  and  executive  genius  of  Greece. 

There  is  no  proof  that  the  art  of  Mosaics  was  indigenous  in 
Africa.  That  it  existed  in  Persia  as  early  as  the  age  of  Ahasuerus 
is  recorded  in  the  first  chapter  of  Esther,  where  it  is  mentioned  that 
m  the  royal  palace  of  Shushan  "  the  beds  were  of  gold  and  silver, 
upon  a  pavement  of  red  and  blue  and  white  marble."  In  this  and 
many  other  respects,  the  spoils  of  war  taken  fi"om  the  Persian  in- 
vaders, conveyed  to  their  victors  important  lessons  in  the  arts  of 
peace.  The  excellence  which  this  kind  of  art  eventually  attained, 
and  the  profusion  of  its  use,  is  quaintly  indicated  by  the  incident 
referred  to  by  Claudius  Galenus  as  follows :  "  Diogenes,  the  cynic, 
having  entered  a  mansion  in  which  all  the  Olympian  deities  were 
figured  in  chaste  Mosaics,  spat  in  the  face  of  the  host,  saying  it  was 
the  least  noble  spot  he  saw."  Athenaeus  also  mentions  a  work, 
formed  of  many  colored  stones,  in  small  fragments,  which  represented 
the  whole  story  of  the  Iliad. 

The  Graces  rocked  the  cradle  of  Greek  art.  Admiration  taught 
her  to  speak,  and  painting  was  her  most  phonetic  idiom.  A  legend 
not  unworthy  of  belief  tells  us  that  a  Corinthian  maid,  by  means 
of  a  secret  lamp,  traced  the  shadow  of  her  departing  lover,  and 
thus  outlined  portrait  was  formed.  As  Love  made  the  first  essay 
in  this  department  of  art,  so  he  never  ceased  to  guide  the  hands 
which  beautified  the  age  of  Pericles.  A  wise  law  prohibited  the 
choice  of  an  ugly  subject,  and  the  popular  sentiment  so  generally 
limited  pictorial  representation  to  the  realm  of  elegance,  that  Fyri' 


64 


PERICLES. 


cus,  who  ventured  to  depict  apes  and  kitchen  herbs,  was  sumamed 
Rhypographer,  or  "  Dirt  Painter." 

The  etymology  of  the  word  used  by  the  Greeks  to  express  paint- 
ing was  the  same  which  they  employed  for  writing,  and  this  renders 
the  affinity  of  method  and  materials  certain.  Their  first  eftbrts 
were  striagrams,  simple  outlines  of  a  shade ;  thence  they  advanced 
to  the  monogram,  or  form  without  light  or  shade  ;  from  this  they 
arose  to  the  monochrom,  or  design  with  a  single  pigment,  on  a  waxed 
tablet ;  and  in  the  end,  by  means  of  the  pencil,  then  first  used,  they 
invented  the  polychrom,  and  thus  raised  the  stained  drawing  to  a 
legitimate  picture,  glowing  through  all  the  magic  scale  of  rainbow 
tints.  The  progressive  steps  in  the  attainment  of  excellence  in  this  art 
are  distinctly  marked  by  the  terms  employed  by  Quinctilian,  when 
he  says  that  Zeuxis  discovered  light  and  shade ;  Pamphilus  was 
exquisite  for  subtlety  of  line ;  Protogenes,  for  finish ;  Apelles,  for 
grace ;  Theon,  for  poetical  conceptions ;  Polygnotus,  for  simplicity 
of  color  and  form ;  Aristides,  for  expression ;  and  Amphion,  for 
composition. 

AVhen  Neptune  and  Minerva  disputed  as  to  who  should  name  the 
capital  of  Cecropia,  the  Olympian  hierarchy  decided  that  the  right 
should  be  given  to  the  one  who  bestowed  the  greatest  benefit  on 
man.  Neptune  smote  the  earth  with  his  trident,  from  whence  sprang 
a  war-horse  ;  while  Minerva  produced  an  olive-tree.  Thenceforth, 
as  the  greatest  glory  of  the  age,  the  arts  of  peace  prevailed,  and  the 
product  and  proof  of  the  noblest  fame  was  set  forth  in  mighty 
sculpture  along  the  western  pediment  of  the  Parthenon.  This  was 
of  pure  Attic  origin,  and  worthily  crowned  the  reminiscences  of 
oriental  skill  beneath.  Egypt  gathered  the  palm  and  lotus,  the 
papyrus  and  date-leaves  together,  and  produced  the  column,  that 
symbol  of  strength,  fastened  like  a  bundle  of  sticks,  the  binding  to- 
gether of  which  probably  suggested  elegant  flutings  to  the  Greeks. 
But,  while  mechanical  execution  absolutely  perfect,  and  great  ex- 
actness in  copyism  of  ignoble  types,  were  imported  from  the  East, 
in  vain  do  we  there  seek,  from  Moses  to  Ptolemy,  for  the  least  ap- 
proximation to  natural  forms.  In  the  land  of  its  growth,  the  lotus- 
leaf  never  alters,  nor  do  the  owl  and  ibis  borrow  one  truthful  char- 
acteristic from  the  models  which  abounded  in  the  valley  of  the 
Nile.  According  to  Herodotus,  a  heroic  mythology,  that  great  lever 


ART. 


65 


of  Greek  art,  was  altogether  wanting  in  Egypt ;  and  for  this  reason, 
doubtless,  of  their  individual  poets,  sculptors,  and  painters,  we  do 
not  possess  the  slightest  record.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  great 
western  metropolis,  infant  art  was  progressively  nourished  by  the 
refined  spirit  of  both  natural  and  ideal  excellence ;  the  permanent 
traces  of  which  perpetually  remain  on  the  painted  vases  and  deli- 
cate basso-relievos  which  in  the  temples  of  Theseus  and  Minerva 
adorned  the  councils  of  the  supreme  gods. 

By  means  of  polychromy,  the  Greeks  endeavored  to  add  elegance 
to  their  buildings,  without  detracting  from  their  majesty,  knowing 
well  that  this  exquisite  system  of  coloring,  when  applied  under  their 
pure  sky,  illuminated  by  brilHant  sunshine,  and  encompassed  by 
gorgeous  vegetation,  would  bring  artificial  beauty  into  complete 
itfdson  with  the  richness  of  nature.  Thus  colored  statuary  har- 
monized with  mural  historic  painting,  and  this  looked  out  from 
broad  panels  of  beauty  through  tinted  colonnades  upon  the  sky,  the 
groves,  fields,  and  sparkling  seas.  By  this  combination,  Athenian 
structures  were  rendered  most  worthy  of  admiration,  because  in 
them  works  which,  taken  separately,  might  move  through  single 
attractions,  or  approach  the  sublime,  were  so  happily  combined,  as 
instantly  to  evoke  a  sentiment  of  perfection  and  delight  such  as  no 
other  monuments  ever  possessed.  Colors  were  so  graduated  that 
the  temple  they  vitalized  was  made  to  resemble  and  reflect  the 
charming  vicissitudes  of  a  lovely  Grecian  day :  cool  in  the  morning, 
dazzling  at  noon,  and  at  evening  burned  with  all  the  glowing  gor- 
geousness  of  the  setting  sun.  Euphranor  and  Micon,  to  excite  the 
emulation  of  compatriots,  depicted  the  exploits  of  heroes  in  the 
Porticoes  ;  Protogenes  and  Olbiades  drew  the  portraits  of  renowned 
legislators  in  the  Curia ;  the  Odeia  were  decorated  with  the  pictorial 
forms  of  poets,  and  with  the  Graces,  their  inseparable  companions ; 
the  Gymnasia  exhibited  the  god-like  champions  in  the  contests  of 
Mars  and  the  Muses  ;  and  even  the  Propylsea  became  more  femous 
for  the  precious  works  of  the  painters  than  for  the  marbles  out  of 
which  its  structural  grandeur  was  formed.  But  Phidias  alone  ex- 
cepted, Polygnotus  was  perhaps  the  greatest  public  genius  in  the 
greatest  artistic  age.  The  pictures  painted  by  him  as  votive  ofierings 
of  the  Cnidians  were  much  admired,  and  the  whole  nation  honored 
him  for  other  monumental  works.  The  Lesche,  filled  with  the  spleu- 


66 


PERICLES. 


ors  of  liis  skill,  was  the  grand  glyptotliek  of  Athens,  and  first 
picture-gallery  of  the  Grecian  world. 

In  the  Periclean  age,  art  was  held  as  a  glory,  not  as  a  luxury. 
Private  life  was  frugal  and  modest,  while  the  pubhc  monuments 
were  soaring  in  proudest  display.  Socrates,  the  cotemporary  of 
Pericles,  according  to  his  own  testimony  preserved  by  Xenophon, 
occupied  a  house  which,  with  all  it  contained,  was  valued  at  five 
minse,  or  about  ninety  dollars.  The  dwellings  of  Miltiades, 
Aristides,  Themistocles,  and  Cimon  were  contracted  and  devoid  of 
all  decoration.  Alcibiades  was  the  first  who  introduced  painting  as 
an  ornament  to  his  living  apartments.  But  a  passion  for  art  aclifated 
all  ciasses,  and  was  most  prominent  in  the  highest.  Thus  the 
beautiful  Elpinice,  sister  of  Cimon,  took  a  pride  in  being  a  model 
to  Polygnotus,  at  the  same  time  her  potent  brother,  at  the  head  of 
the  republic,  triumphed  over  the  mighty  king.  With  kindred  zeal, 
the  populace  of  Croton  gathered  all  the  fairest  damsels  before 
Zeuxis,  in  order  that  from  them  he  might  select  the  best  features 
with  which  to  execute  their  commission  to  paint  Helen.  The 
astonishing  progress  made  at  that  period  in  sculpture  and  painting 
was  seen  in  the  contrast  which  existed  between  an  Indian  idol,  or 
Egyptian  Isis,  and  the  Jupiter  of  Phidias ;  between  the  pfantile 
fancies  of  a  Chinese  designer,  and  the  ineff'able  charms  of  a  picture 
by  Apelles.  While  Socrates  employed  the  language  of  Homer  as 
the  medium  of  moral  discourse,  and  Plato  thence  derived  images 
and  reasoning  to  convey  the  theologies  of  Orpheus  and  Pythagoras, 
Agatharcus  invented  dramatic  painting,  and  drew  for  ^schylus  the 
first  scene  that  ever  agreed  with  the  rules  of  linear  perspective.  A 
picture  of  the  battle  of  Marathon,  representing  Miltiades  erect  in 
the  for^^round,  was  solemnly  guarded  by  the  public,  and  deemed 
an  adequate  reward  by  that  great  captain.  A  pendant  to  this  is 
fsaid  to  have  been  one  representing  Aristides  watching  at  night 
over  the  bloody  field,  in  sight  of  the  blue  sea,  no  longer  crowded  by 
the  barbarian  fleet,  and  the  white  columns  of  the  temple  of  Her- 
cules, near  which  the  Athenians  had  pitched  their  tents. 

But  when  freedom  ceased  to  preside  over  the  pubhc  fortunes  of 
Greece,  grandeur  and  beauty  withdrew  from  her  private  minds.  As 
Philip  of  Macedon  drew  near,  the  propitious  gods  of  Olympia 
■migrated  to  Pella,  and  all  the  fair  heritage  assumed  a  sickly  hue  in 


ART. 


67 


the  deepening  shade.  As  rhetoric  vainly  mimicked  the  deep 
thunders  of  eloquence  which  had  passed,  and  metaphysical  sophistry 
was  substituted  for  that  lofty  philosophy  which  had  guided  honor- 
able destinies,  so  the  grand  taste  which  at  first  dictated  to  art  the 
monumental  style,  degenerated  into  mere  prettiness,  or  expanded 
into  the  heaviness  of  an  unhealthy  growth.  But  soon  even  the 
portion  which  yet  retained  some  elegance  ceased  altogether,  and 
what  remained  was  rapidly  transformed  into  the  type  of  an  age 
already  gaining  the  ascendancy — colossal  might.  Phidias  excelled 
in  graphic  as  in  plastic  art.  According  to  Pliny,  his  Medusa's 
head  was  a  wonderful  picture.  Alcamenes,  the  Athenian,  continued 
for  a  while  the  style  of  that  great  master,  as  did  Agoracritus  and 
Scopas  of  Paros.  But  the  latter,  like  Lysippus,  were  transitional 
to  Praxiteles  of  Cnidos,  in  whom  great  art  expired.  Original 
genius  ceased  to  produce  models  of  its  own,  and  only  expert  imita- 
tors of  mighty  predecessors  succeeded.  Pamphilus  was  the 
Perugino,  and  Zeuxis,  of  Crotona,  the  Raphael,  of  Periclean  painters. 
Apelles  seems  to  have  been  the  Titian  of  his  age,  and  Protogenes, 
of  Rhodes,  a  Greek  Leonardo,  whose  picture  of  Temperance,  his 
cotemporary  Apelles  declared,  was  worthy  of  being  carried  to 
heaven  by  the  Graces.  But  with  these  masters  pictorial  art 
declined,  and,  like  architectural  and  plastic  art,  was  marked  with 
the  grossness  of  a  coming  age. 

Cheronea  was  the  grave  of  Grecian  excellence,  as  Marathon  had 
been  the  glorious  scene  of  its  birth.  The  principle  of  despotism 
there  came  into  colHsion  with  that  of  democracy,  and  with  fearful 
odds  in  favor  of  the  foiTQcr ;  but  the  result  first  demonstrated,  as 
was  afterward  repeated  at  Thermopylae,  Salamis,  and  Platsea,  the 
difference  between  the  man  who  fights  for  another  and  him  who 
contends  for  his  own  rights.  From  the  days  of  Themistocles  to 
the  present  hour,  no  writer  has  discussed  the  nature  and  influence 
of  free  institutions  without  drawing  largely  from  this  portion  of 
Grecian  heroism.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  those 
battles  on  the  destinies  of  mankind,  as  in  all  succeeding  ages  they  have 
constituted  the  staple  of  patriotic  appeal,  the  battle-cry  of  desperate 
struggles,  and  thrilHng  key-notes  of  triumphant  songs.  Thus  con- 
secrated to  free  government  by  martyred  patriots,  they  are  the 
universal  watchwords  of  independence  throughout  the  world.  The 


68 


PERICLES. 


calm  fortitude  of  that  invincible  age  was  expressed  in  every  depart- 
ment of  art,  even  its  melody.  Music  was  an  accompli sliment  in 
which  the  Greeks  generally  excelled.  Alcibiades,  however,  surren- 
dered the  use  of  the  flute,  because  it  deranged  the  beauty  of  his 
features ;  and  Themistocles,  also,  rejected  its  instruments,  saying, 
"  It  is  true  I  never  learned  how  to  tune  a  harp,  or  play  upon  a  lute, 
but  I  know  how  to  raise  a  small  city  to  glory  and  greatness,"  Per- 
haps the  best  instance  and  symbol  of  all  was  Achilles.  He  was  fed 
on  the  marrow  of  lions,  and  trained  for  conflict  by  the  centaur 
Chiron,  who  was  not  less  skillful  in  music  than  in  the  art  of  war. 
Resting  from  the  chase  of  wild  beasts  in  the  desert,  or,  after  the 
victoiious  fight  with  Trojans,  sitting  alone  by  the  sea-shore,  the  lyre 
was  the  companion  of  his  leisure,  and,  playing  with  its  chords,  he 
could  control  inward  wrath  by  his  own  melody. 

If  architecture  is  the  most  significant  and  enduring  portion  of  the 
history  of  a  people,  a  sure  index  of  their  mental  state  and  social 
progress,  plastic  and  graphic  art  are  also  striking  exponents  of  their 
national  character.  The  beautiful  marble  which  forms  the  chffs 
and  coasts  of  Greece,  notwithstanding  its  homogeneous  transforma- 
tion, betrays  by  veins  and  fossils  its  sedimentary  formation.  And 
so  Hellenism,  although  it  may  be  homogeneous,  nevertheless  betrays 
its  secondary  origin,  and  the  sedimentary  material  which  consti- 
tutes its  groundwork.  The  rudimentary  vestiges  bear  the  same 
impress  in  Assyria,  Egypt,  and  even  among  savage  races ;  but  the 
Greeks  ignored  the  origin  of  these,  rose  above  their  hieratical 
meanings,  and  stamped  all  creations  with  their  own  peculiar  manner. 
Their  system  of  polychromy  was  the  richest  in  antiquity,  com- 
bining the  lapidary  style  brought  by  the  Dorians  from  Egypt,  and 
the  more  brilliant  tints  which  were  attained  when  the  Ionic  mind 
penetrated  Doric  matter,  and  transfigured  it  with  all  the  glories  of 
Asiatic  color.  As  Homer  describes  only  progressive  actions,  so  his 
great  race  executed  nothing  but  what  was  bounded  by  the  delicate 
lines  of  grace.  The  Parthenon  has  generally  been  regarded  as 
being  exactly  rectihnear ;  but  Penrose  has  recently  demonstrated, 
by  careful  admeasurements,  that  probably  there  is  not  a  straight 
line  in  the  building.  All  is  embraced  within  mathematical  curves, 
accurately  calculated,  and  designed  to  correct  the  disagreeable  efiect 
produced  on  a  practiced  eye  by  perfectly  straight  lines.   Taken  as 


ART. 


69 


a  whole,  this  work  is  sublimely  grand,  and,  in  its  minutest  details, 
it  is  perfectly  wonderful.  When  unmutilated,  it  was  the  aggregate 
of  all  artistic  worth,  and  yet  remains,  of  its  age,  the  chief  emblem 
of  intellectual  majesty. 

The  Greek  sculptor  invested  his  work  with  an  inexpressible  se- 
renity, as  if  it  were  a  spirit  without  a  passion,  as  appears  in  the 
Apollo  and  Antinous.  Pride  and  scorn  are  strongly  marked  in 
these,  yet  over  the  whole  figure  is  thrown  a  heavenly  calm  and 
placidness ;  there  is  no  swelling  vein,  no  contorted  muscle,  but  a 
general  smoothness  and  unperturbed  dignity.  The  same  subdued 
air  and  tone  prevailed  in  the  paintings  of  the  best  age.  Achilles 
appears  grieved  at  having  slain  Penthesilea;  the  brave  beauty, 
bathed  in  her  own  blood  so  heroically  shed,  demands  the  esteem  of 
her  mightier  antagonist,  and  elicits  the  exclamations  of  both  com- 
passion and  love.  The  Greeks  never  painted  a  Fury,  nor  did  ex- 
travagant rage  or  frightful  despair  degrade  any  of  their  productions. 
Indignant  Jupiter  hurled  his  lightnings  with  a  serene  brow ;  and 
Timanthes,  in  painting  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigenia,  rather  than  over- 
pass the  limits  within  which  the  Graces  moved,  when  he  knew  that 
the  grief  of  Agamemnon,  the  father,  would  spread  contortions  over 
the  face  of  the  hero,  concealed  the  extreme  of  distress,  and  per- 
fected at  once  the  merit  of  the  picture  and  the  puiity  of  his  taste. 
The  Philoctetes  of  Pythagoras  of  Leontini,  appeared  to  impart 
his  pain  to  the  beholder;  but  this  was  telegraphed  to  the  soul 
by  the  magnetic  sympathy  latent  in  all  the  work,  and  not  by  means 
of  ugly  features.  Hercules  in  the  poisoned  garment,  depicted  by  an 
unknown  master  of  that  age,  was  not  the  Hercules  whom  Sophocles 
described,  shrieking  so  horridly  that  the  rocks  of  Locris  and  head- 
lands of  Euboea  resounded  therewith.  What  wgfe  truthful  and  ap- 
propriate in  language,  was  not  attempted  to  be  adequately  expressed 
through  the  distortions  of  inappropriate  art.  Zeuxis  derived  his 
inspiration  from  Homer,  and  when  he  had  painted  his  Helen,  he  had 
the  courage  to  write  at  her  feet  the  renowned  verses,  in  which  the 
enraptured  elders  confess  their  admiration.  This  contest  between 
poetry  and  painting  was  so  remarkable,  that  the  victory  remained 
undecided,  as  both  the  poet  and  painter  were  deemed  worthy  of  a 
crown.  The  Diana  of  Apelles  also  followed  Homer  closely,  with 
the  Graces  mingling  in  the  accompanying  train  of  her  Nymphs. 


70 


PERICLES. 


In  these  instances,  as  with  Phidias  in  his  own  loftier  sphere,  the 
imagination  of  the  artist  was  fired  by  the  exalted  image  of  the 
poet,  and  thus  became  more  capable  of  just  and  captivating  repre- 
sentation. 

But  perhaps  the  grandest  combination  of  glorious  arts  it  is  pos- 
sible to  conceive,  was  that  which  existed  when  Demosthenes  ad- 
dressed six  thousand  of  his  countrymen  at  the  Pnyx.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  this  vast  multitude,  he  ascended  the  bema,  and  saw  beneath 
him  the  Agora,  filled  with  statues  and  altars  to  heroes  and  gods. 
To  the  north  lay  the  olive  groves  of  wisdom,  and  sunny  villages 
along  the  fruitful  plains  beneath  the  craggy  heights  of  Parnes  and 
Cithseron ;  while  to  the  south  sparkled  the  blue  ^gean,  whitened 
by  many  a  sail.  Before  him  was  the  Hill  of  Mars,  seat  of  that 
most  venerable  tribunal,  the  Areopagus.  Above  him  towered  the 
Acropolis,  with  its  temples  glittering  in  the  air  ;  on  the  left,  stood 
the  lofty  statue  of  Minerva  Promachus,  with  helmet  and  spear 
ready  to  repel  all  who  dared  to  invade  her  pride  of  place ;  and  on 
the  right,  rising  in  supreme  and  stately  splendor,  was  the  marble 
Parthenon,  glowing  with  chromatic  legends  spread  behind  the  colon- 
nades, and  reheved  with  sculpture  tipped  with  gold. 

The  splendid  noon  of  Grecian  greatness  was  succeeded  by  a 
splendid  evening,  divinely  prolonged.  Mental  pre-eminence  sur- 
vived long  after  her  political  supremacy  was  overthrown ;  and  even 
when  trampled  in  the  dust,  she  still  won  reverence  from  her  brutal 
foe. 


CHAPTER  III 


SCIENCE. 

If  we  trace  the  marcli  of  scientific  knowledge  through  the  dense 
strata  of  departed  ages  to  its  root,  it  will  doubtless  be  found  in  the 
remote  East,  while  all  prolific  growth  is  toward  the  West.  As 
often  as  the  storms  of  conquest  have  passed  over  the  plains  of  India, 
the  arts  of  production  continue  to  be  practiced  in  the  very  places 
of  their  first  endeavors.  Hindoos  of  the  present  day,  with  no  other 
auxiliaries  than  their  hatchets  and  hands,  can  smelt  iron,  which 
they  will  convert  into  steel,  equal  to  the  best  prepared  in  Europe 
It  is  believed  that  the  tools  with  which  the  Egyptians  covered 
their  obelisks  and  temples  of  porphyry  and  syenite  with  hiero- 
glyphics, were  made  of  Indian  steel.  Bailly  refers  the  origin  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  astronomy,  the  old  lunar  zodiac,  and  the  dis- 
covery of  the  planets,  to  northern  Asia.  Doubtless  that  was  the 
source  of  the  progressive  race,  of  which  science  was  the  chief  in- 
strument, and  Greek  culture  the  first  adequate  expression. 

As  criticism  comes  naturally  after  poetry,  so  science  succeeds  a 
great  exhibition  of  art.  A  close  and  profound  analogy  exists  be- 
tween them,  and  in  this  order.  Genius  spontaneously  executes 
great,  curious,  and  beautiful  works,  before  scientific  reason  pauses 
to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  principles  according  to  which  the 
artistic  processes  were  conducted.  Expert  workers  in  brass  and 
iron  existed  long  before  the  chemistry  of  metals  was  known,  as 
wine  sparkled  in  crystal  and  golden  goblets  before  vinous  fermenta- 
tion formed  a  chapter  of  science.  Pyramids  and  cromlechs  were 
raised  into  the  air  in  cyclopian  massiveness,  before  a  theory  of 
mechanical  powers  had  been  defined.  Dyeing  was  early  in  use  with 
the  Hindoos,  from  whom  the  Egyptians  learned  the  art,  as  they  did 
that  of  calico  printing.   That  was  one  of  the  many  varieties  of 


72 


PERICLES. 


practical  science  which  certainly  came  from  the  remote  East 
Paper  making  was  first  known  in  India,  where,  for  a  long  time,  it 
was  formed  of  cotton  and  other  substitutes  for  hemp  and  flax.  In 
the  Himalayas,  it  is  still  manufactured  of  the  inner  bark  of  trees, 
and  in  sheets  of  immense  size.  The  invention  of  a  loom,  and  the 
common  mode  of  weaving,  is  alluded  to  in  the  Rig  Veda,  b.  c. 
1200  years.  The  Institutes  of  Manu,  say  :  "  Let  a  weaver  who  has 
received  ten  palas  of  cotton  thread,  give  them  back,  increased  to 
eleven  by  rice-water  and  the  like  used  in  weaving." 

But  the  nurses  of  infant  science  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  the 
Euphrates,  and  the  Nile,  enslaved  it  to  their  own  superstitions,  and 
forever  arrested  its  growth  at  the  immutable  boundary  of  their  own 
contracted  technicahties.  So  little  real  skill  did  the  Egyptians  pos- 
sess, that  it  was  necessary  for  Thales  to  show  them  how  to  find  the 
height  of  the  pyramids  by  the  length  of  their  shadows.  Osiris  was 
a  king  of  that  mummified  land,  and  the  historical  course  of  science 
was  foretokened  by  the  fabulous  account  respecting  him.  Diodorus 
states  that  he  passed  through  Ethiopia,  Arabia,  India,  and  Asia ; 
crossed  the  Hellespont  into  Europe,  and  went  from  Thrace  to 
western  Greece,  and  the  nations  beyond,  teaching  them  agriculture, 
and  the  cultivation  of  the  vine.  This  was  unquestionably  invented 
after  the  Egyptian  priesthood  had  received  much  information  from 
the  Greeks,  and  had  become  ashamed  of  their  own  gods,  who  had 
always  confined  their  beneficent  acts  entirely  to  the  borders  of  the 
Nile.  Nevertheless,  the  statement  is  interesting,  as  it  indicates  the 
natural  course  of  improvement. 

True  scientific  progress  primarily  appeared  in  those  mathematical 
ideas  which  first  escaped  from  theological  jurisdiction,  and  have  ever 
since  increasingly  dispersed  the  gloom  of  superstition.  The  East 
was  all  eyes  and  no  sight,  when  reason  was  most  requisite  for  prac- 
tical use ;  like  Argus,  whose  hundred  eyes  were  found  napping  when 
work  was  to  be  done.  The  West  was  much  more  effective,  because 
its  executive  skill  was  fully  equal  to  its  speculative ;  like  Cyclops, 
whose  rugged  two  hands,  co-operative  with  his  vigilant  one  eye, 
forged  for  Neptune  the  trident  which  insured  him  the  empire  of  the 
sea.  The  study  of  natural  forces  increased  in  proportion  to  the  ne- 
cessity for  their  use  as  correlatives  to  manual  toil.  They  were  thus 
made  greatly  to  increase  the  power  of  man,  at  the  same  time  they 


SCIENCE. 


73 


materially  economized  his  time.  It  was  impossible  even  to  the  en- 
during energies  of  Hercules,  unassisted  to  cleanse  the  Augean  sta- 
bles ;  but  by  the  co-operation  of  a  natural  force,  in  the  waters  of 
the  Alpheus,  the  needful  end  was  speedily  and  effectually  obtained. 
A  legend  describes  how  Arachne,  proud  of  her  proficiency  in  needle- 
work, presumed  to  challenge  Minerva  to  a  trial  of  skill.  But  the 
contest  was  most  unequal,  because  the  latter  added  science  to 
natural  handicraft,  and  this  combination  was  too  powerful  for  any 
one  to  withstand.  The  discomfited  Arachne  was  degraded  from 
her  high  position  among  mortals,  and,  transformed  into  a  spider, 
was  thenceforth  compelled  to  spin  the  same  web  in  the  same  way, 
ahke  in  summer  zeph3rrs  and  wintry  blasts. 

Science  exists  in  the  mind ;  it  is  nature  seen  by  the  reason,  and 
not  merely  by  the  senses.  The  sciences  are  necessarily  progressive 
in  the  outward  world,  because  of  their  internal  connection.  When 
a  particular  fundamental  principle  is  in  the  process  of  discovery,  it 
is  objective,  that  is  the  object  contemplated ;  but  when  once  elimi- 
nated it  becomes  subjective,  a  new  light  to  act  as  guide  and  evolver 
of  kindred  principles  which  lie  beyond  it,  and  are  of  more  compre- 
hensive use.  The  development  of  man  as  a  race  is  the  unfolding 
of  this  inherent  dependence  of  one  science  upon  another,  the  con- 
tinuous revelation  of  that  great  patrimony  of  knowledge  which  is 
predestined  to  insure  progress,  emancipate  reason,  and  entail  the 
highest  improvement  consistent  with  a  mortal  state.  When  the 
Greek  passed  from  the  outer  world  of  nature  in  search  of  wisdom, 
and  descended  to  the  depths  of  human  consciousness,  he  was  no 
longer  traditional ;  his  thought  was  science,  and  we  can  see  both 
its  birth  and  progressiveness.  Then  only  might  the  world  expect 
that,  as  Plato  says  his  master  once  desired,  that  "  Nature  should 
have  interpretation  according  to  reason."  With  Socrates,  and  the 
scientific  thinkers  of  his  school,  philosophy  advanced  from  the  realm 
of  nature  into  the  realm  of  man,  and  became  a  moral  science.  But 
its  early  cultivators  were  copious  in  abstract  principles  rather  than 
in  practical  applications.  As  Canning  said,  they  were  the  horses 
of  the  chariot  of  industry,  and,  going  in  advance  of  systemizers, 
they  searched  for  truth  for  its  own  dear  sake.  Science  was  indeed 
beautiful  in  that  serene  height  of  abstract  theory  it  was  her  first 
aim  to  secure,  resources  so  copious  and  elevated  that  they  might 

4 


74 


PERICLES. 


irrigate  all  lands  in  their  descending  flow ;  as  tLe  dove  that  brought 
the  olive-branch  to  the  ark  of  man's  hopes  needed  to  take  a  higher 
and  longer  flight  than  the  one  measured  by  the  tree  whence  she 
came. 

Strange  elements  of  civilization  were  gathered  by  the  Greeks  on 
every  side,  all  of  which  were  rapidly  assimilated  to  a  lofty  type,  and 
subordinated  to  the  noblest  use.  Providence,  with  the  wisest  intent, 
did  not  permit  them  to  advance  far  in  the  right  track  of  scientific 
discovery.  The  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  that,  and  their  fine 
endowments  were  made  subordinate  to  human  happiness  in  more 
auspicious  modes  than  through  the  accumulation  of  physical 
knowledge.  They  were  fitted  rather  to  self-scrutiny,  guided  by 
the  mind  alone,  than  to  explore  the  grosser  world  of  sense.  To 
regulate  and  define  common  conceptions  under  the  law  of  observa- 
tion was  not  their  forte ;  but  they  were  prompt  and  facile  to  ana- 
lyze and  expand  them  through  generalized  reflection.  Tlie  refined 
childi'en  of  Hellas  were  subjective  rather  than  objective  in  all  their 
habits  of  thought ;  and  the  Good,  the  Beautiful,  and  the  Perfect, 
were  their  favorite  speculative  themes.  I^evertheless,  the  earliest 
waking  of  science  was  in  their  schools ;  with  them  the  speculative 
faculty  in  physical  inquiries  was  first  unfolded.  During  the  pro- 
tracted prelude  during  which  practical  knowledge  was  becoming 
separated  from  metaphysical,  the  more  sagacious  of  their  leaders 
were  called  sophoi,  or  wise  men.  Afterward  this  term  was  changed, 
as  we  shall  have  occasion  to  note  in  the  succeeding  chapter.  The 
physical  sciences,  as  treated  by  the  early  Italic  and  Ionic  schools, 
embraced  numerous  great  questions,  and  comprehended  the  widest 
field  of  universal  erudition  that  was  ever  attempted.  But  proceed- 
ing according  to  a  method  radically  wrong,  they  were  unsuccessful. 
Greek  scholarship  in  science,  as  in  every  other  department,  at  the 
outset  aimed  at  universaUty.  Untamed  by  toil,  and  undismayed  by 
reverses,  they  went  bravely  to  their  task,  and  strove  to  read  the  en- 
tire volume  of  nature  at  one  glance.  To  discover  the  origin  and 
principle  of  the  universe,  expressed  in  a  single  word,  was  their  vain 
endeavor.  Thales  declared  water  to  be  the  original  of  all ;  and 
Anaximenes,  air ;  while  Heraclitus  pronounced  fire  to  be  the  essen- 
tial prmciple  of  the  universe.  The  poetical  theogonies  and  cos- 
mogonies of  preceding  ages  gave  tone  to  speculation  in  the  dawn 


SCIENCE. 


75 


of  science,  and  a  physical  cosmogony  was  the  primary  result.  Pre- 
ceding nations,  as  the  Egyptians,  had  no  cosmal  theories,  and  felt 
the  need  of  none ;  not  so  the  Greeks,  they  were  born  with  a  crav- 
ing to  discover  the  reasons  of  things,  and  to  explain  somehow  the 
mysteries  which  duller  races  had  little  capacity,  and  less  desire  to 
comprehend. 

Astrology  bore  a  high  antiquity  in  the  East,  and  contained  within 
itself  some  rays  of  light,  but  never  rose  above  a  degraded  astron- 
omy. It  prepared  the  way  for  science,  by  leading  to  the  habit  of 
grouping  phenomena  under  the  pictorial  and  mythological  relations 
which  were  supposed  to  exist  among  the  stars.  Actual  truths  are 
gradually  approximated,  but  when  once  really  attained,  they  forever 
remain  the  fundamental  treasure  of  man,  and  may  be  traced  in  all 
the  superadditions  of  brighter  days.  Thus,  in  the  dim  light  of 
speculative  suggestion,  the  Copernican  system  was  anticipated  by 
Aristarchus,  the  resolution  of  the  heavenly  appearances  into  circular 
motions  was  intimated  by  Plato,  and  the  numerical  relations  of 
musical  intervals  is  to  be  ascribed  to  Pythagoras.  But  so  com- 
pletely at  fault  as  to  method  were  even  the  latest  natural  philoso- 
phers, that  no  physical  doctrine  as  now  received,  can  be  traced  so 
far  back  as  Aristotle. 

Astronomy  is  undoubtedly  the  most  ancient  and  remarkable 
science.  Chaldea  and  Egypt  probably  gave  to  it  somewhat  of  a 
scientific  form,  before  the  age  of  intellectuality  represented  by  the 
Greeks.  The  Egyptians  advanced  one  step  in  the  right  direction, 
when  they  deteraiined  the  path  of  the  sun  ;  and  Thales,  who,  like 
Moses,  was  learned  in  all  the  science  of  that  Pharaonic  people,  in- 
troduced what  he  had  gleaned  into  his  ovm  land,  and  became  the 
father  of  astronomy.  The  great  advance  which  he  made  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  he  was  the  first  to  predict  an  eclipse.  This 
science,  moreover,  profited  by  the  authority  with  which  Plato 
taught  the  supremacy  of  mathematical  order ;  and  the  truths  of 
harmonics  which  gave  rise  to  the  Pythagorean  passion  for  numbers, 
were  cultivated  with  great  care  in  that  school.  But  after  these 
first  impulses,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Whewell,  the  sciences  owed 
nothing  to  the  philosophical  sects  ;  and  the  vast  and  complex  accu- 
mulations and  apparatus  of  the  Stagirite,  do  not  appear  to  have 
led  to  any  theoretical  physical  truths. 


76 


PERICLES. 


As  intimated  before,  Thales  of  Miletus,  was  the  father  of  mathe- 
matical science,  as  of  Grecian  philosophy  in  general.  The  discove- 
ries of  that  early  period  were  of  the  most  elementary  kind,  but  of 
sufficient  importance  to  give  impulse  to  more  dignified  researches. 
His  pupil,  Pythagoras,  made  great  advancement,  and  introduced 
music  into  his  explanations  of  scientific  phenomena.  Democritus 
and  Anaxagoras,  the  friend  of  Pericles,  improved  upon  the  attain- 
ments of  their  predecessors.  The  latter  employed  himself  in  his 
prison  on  the  quadrature  of  the  circle.  Hippocrates,  originally  a 
merchant  of  Chio,  became  a  geometer  at  Athens,  and  was  the  first 
to  solve  the  problem  of  a  double  cube.  Archylas,  the  teacher  of 
Plato,  and  Eudoxus,  one  of  that  great  man's  scholars,  measured 
cyhndrical  surfaces,  and  attained  important  results  by  means  of 
conic  sections.  Thales  is  reputed  to  have  introduced  the  sun-dial 
into  Greece,  to  have  observed  the  obliquity  of  the  ecliptic,  and 
taught  that  the  earth  was  spherical,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  uni- 
verse. The  cycle  of  nineteen  years,  called  the  golden  number, 
invented  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  solar  and  lunar  year  coin- 
cide, was  the  most  important  practical  result  which  the  astronomy 
of  the  Periclean  age  attained.  Meton  and  Euctemon  proposed  it 
for  the  adoption  of  the  Athenians,  by  whom  it  was  adopted  b.  c. 
433  years,  and  is  still  in  use  to  determine  movable  feasts. 

Pythagoras,  the  cotemporary  of  Anaxagoras,  greatly  improved 
every  branch  of  science.  He  is  said  to  have  been  taken  prisoner 
by  Cambyses,  and  thus  to  have  become  acquainted  with  all  the 
mysteries  of  the  Persian  Magi.  He  settled  at  Crotona,  in  Italy,  and 
founded  the  Italian  sect.  The  physical  sciences,  particularly  natu- 
ral history,  and  the  science  of  medicine,  were  created  by  the  Greeks. 
The  writings  of  Hippocrates  and  Galen  instructed  the  age  of  Peri- 
cles in  the  science  of  anatomy,  which,  with  geometry  and  numbers, 
enabled  the  greatest  of  the  artists  to  determine  his  drawing,  pro- 
portions, and  motion.  It  was  genius  guided  by  science  that  enabled 
the  master  to  endow  his  work  with  life,  action,  and  sentiment. 

Science  in  Greece,  like  life  itself,  was  thoroughly  republican  and 
expansive,  so  long  as  vital  growth  was  permitted.  Their  navigation 
extended  even  to  the  Baltic,  as  the  voyage  of  Pytheas  is  a  proof ; 
they  rather  surpassed  than  yielded  to  the  Phoenicians  in  the  activity 
of  their  trade,  and  the  wealth  as  well  as  extent  of  their  colonies. 


SCIENCE. 


77 


It  was  in  their  superiority  of  scientific  attainments  that  the  Grecian 
colonists  mainly  excelled.  Carthage,  for  instance,  was  at  the  same 
time  powerful  in  conquest  and  commerce,  but  despite  all  her  intel- 
lectual culture,  she  was  inferior  to  smaller  cities  planted  on  the  op- 
posite coasts. 

In  the  time  of  Homer,  all  Italy  was  "  an  unknown  country." 
Phocean  navigators  discovered  the  Tyrrhenian  sea,  west  of  Sicily, 
and  yet  more  daring  adventurers  from  Tartessus  sailed  to  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules.  In  due  time,  Colseus  of  Samos,  clearing  for  Egypt, 
was  driven  by  easterly  winds  (Herodotus  adds  significantly,  '*  not 
without  divine  intervention,")  through  the  straits  into  the  ocean. 
Thus  was  the  remotest  border  of  the  known  world  unwillingly 
passed,  and  a  nearer  approach  made  to  the  divinely  attested  Hes- 
perides  of  the  West. 

In  contemplating  the  sublime  and  immortal  rank  which  Greece 
held  in  the  designs  of  Providence,  the  relation  of  her  commerce  to 
science  should  not  be  overlooked.  The  fable  respecting  the  flight 
of  Daedalus  from  Crete,  is  supposed  to  signify  that  he  escaped  by 
means  of  a  vessel  with  sails,  the  first  use  of  which,  in  that  primitive 
age,  might  well  be  regarded  as  a  description  of  wings.  Inland  and 
maritime  navigation,  were  made  to  contribute  much  to  that  prolific 
race.  Ivory,  ebony,  indigo,  the  purple  dye  mentioned  by  Ctesias, 
and  gum-resins  were  imported  from  Arabia  and  Africa,  together 
with  pearls  and  cotton  from  the  Persian  Gulf.  Caravans  of  camels 
richly  ladened  crossed  Arabia  to  Egypt,  and  the  great  rivers  Eu- 
phrates and  Tigris  conveyed  vast  stores  of  raw  material  to  western 
Asia  and  Greece.  Not  only  were  the  shrines  of  many  a  deity  en- 
riched with  vessels  and  decorations  wrought  out  of  "  barbaric  gold," 
but  every  department  of  productive  art  and  science  was  kept  active 
through  the  demands  of  a  wide  and  untrammeled  commerce.  The 
great  intelligences  of  the  age  struggled  with  laudable  intent,  to  em- 
body the  conceptions,  and  diff'usethe  eff'ulgence  they  possessed.  As 
in  that  national  game  so  significant  of  the  master-passion  and  glo- 
rious mission  of  the  Greeks,  they  threw  onward  the  blazing  torch 
from  one  to  the  other,  until  light  kindled  in  every  eye,  and  the  fly- 
ing symbol  exhilarated  every  breast.  No  man  then  professed  to 
teach,  and  was  paid  for  teaching,  who  yet  had  nothing  to  commu- 
nicate. 


78 


PERICLES. 


For  ten  centuries  the  Greeks  marched  at  the  head  of  humanity, 
while  Athens  remained  the  centre  to  which  the  winds  and  the 
waves  bore  germs  of  civihzation  from  the  East,  and  whence,  by  the 
same  instrumentahties,  the  seeds  of  yet  richer  harvests  were  scat- 
tered toward  a  more  distant  West.  Hesiod,  in  his  Works  and  Days, 
gave  many  practical  lessons  on  agriculture,  and  more  prosaic,  but 
not  less  useful  projficients  arose  on  every  hand  to  impart  the  most 
valuable  instruction  to  each  aspirant.  The  last  effort  of  Grecian 
science  was  to  mingle  and  combine  in  one  system,  all  that  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  up  to  that  era  had  produced.  Diversified  ideas 
of  every  shape  and  degree  of  worth  were  gathered  around  the  torch 
of  intense  national  enthusiasm,  were  made  to  comprehend  and 
modify  one  another,  and,  in  their  sublimated  union,  gave  birth  to 
the  first  cultivated  world.  Plato  was  nearly  cotemporary  with 
Phidias,  and,  considering  the  great  influence  of  his  philosophic 
theory  concerning  the  power  of  the  soul  to  mold  the  outward  per- 
son into  its  own  pattern  of  virtue  or  vice,  we  can  little  doubt  that 
the  artist  in  his  studio  was  greatly  influenced  by  the  sage  of  the 
Academy,  both  as  to  the  choice  of  subjects  and  mode  of  treating 
them.  But  when  the  age  of  consummate  art  had  passed,  the 
Greeks  perfected  another  great  legacy  to  their  successors,  by  making 
the  last  generation  of  her  national  industry  the  successful  devotees 
of  science. 

When  every  other  department  of  literature  and  art  in  Athens 
were  at  their  greatest  splendor,  the  mathematics  also  flourished 
most ;  the  former  soon  began  to  decline,  but  the  sciences  continued 
in  power  long  after  beauty  in  art  had  been  echpsed.  Aristotle 
wrote  nine  books  on  animals.  He  may  be  fixed  upon  as  represent- 
ing the  highest  stage  of  knowledge  and  system  the  Greeks  ever 
attained.  Athenaeus  states,  that  Alexander  gave  him  large  sums 
of  money,  and  several  thousands  of  men,  to  hunt,  fish,  and  other- 
wise aid  in  furnishing  a  vast  collection  in  natural  history,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  philosopher.  He  was  not  only  the  first,  but 
the  only  one  of  the  ancients,  w^ho  treated  of  separate  species  in  the 
animal  kingdom.  But,  although  his  system  of  physics  accumulated 
numerous  facts,  Aristotle  deduced  not  one  general  law  to  explain 
them.  He  knew  the  property  of  the  lever  as  well,  and  many  other 
correlative  truths,  but  there  was  no  correct  theory  of  mechanical 


SCIENCE. 


79 


powers  in  the  world,  before  Archimedes  struck  upon  a  generic 
principle  of  science.  Before  him,  no  one  had  arranged  the  facts 
of  space,  body,  and  motion,  under  the  idea  of  mechanical  cause, 
which  is  force. 

The  civilization  of  Greece  is  borne  to  us,  not  upon  the  shields 
of  her  warriors,  though  they  were  such  as  Epaminondas,  Miltiades, 
or  Theseus.  But  in  her  inventive  skill  and  artistic  taste,  in  her 
ships  and  argosies,  in  her  industrial  prowess  and  the  freedom  con- 
sequent thereupon,  were  the  power  and  wealth  which  made  her  the 
Panopticon  of  the  nations.  Freedom  of  production,  and  freedom 
of  barter,  were  the  guiding  commercial  principles  under  which 
science  and  fame  grew  together  and  matured  the  greatest  strength. 
Athens  was  indebted  to  the  enterprise  of  her  citizens,  and  not  to 
martial  conquest,  for  her  glory.  The  ships  that  crowded  the  gnilf 
of  Salamis,  were  built  of  wood,  purchased  from  Thrace  and  Mace- 
donia, and  choice  material  for  the  furniture  of  their  halls  and  pal- 
aces, from  Byzantium.  Phrygia  supphed  them  with  wool,  and 
imports  from  Miletus  were  woven  in  their  looms.  The  choicest 
products  of  Pontus,  Cyprus,  and  the  Peloponnesus,  did  the  Athen- 
ians obtain ;  while,  for  them,  from  Britain,  overland  through  Gaul, 
the  Carthagenians  exported  tin,  and  exchanged  with  them  diversi- 
fied commodities.  Spain  yielded  them  its  iron,  and  the  quarries 
of  Hymettus  and  Pentelicus  furnished  marble  for  the  adornment 
of  their  own  lands,  and  for  copious  export.  As  is  shown  in  McCul- 
lagh's  "  Industrial  History  of  Free  Nations,"  they  never  had  an  idea 
that  population  could  outstrip  production,  or  production  over  sup- 
ply the  population.  "  If  a  man  were  in  debt,  they  did  not  confine 
him  between  stone-walls,  useless  to  himself  and  his  creditors :  they 
provided  that  he  should  labor  until  he  had  paid  back  the  amount 
of  the  debt.  It  was  upon  the  seas  of  commercial  treaty  they 
learned  their  lessons  of  freedom ;  and  thence,  too,  did  those  gems 
of  art,  which  have  since  been  the  wonder  and  the  worship  of  the 
world,  increase  and  dehght.  The  beauty  of  their  heavens  shed  an 
influence  over  their  soul ;  the  tenderness  of  their  scenes,  we  know, 
enwove  themselves  into  even  the  tables,  chairs,  couches,  and  drink- 
ing vessels.  ^The  Grecian  moved  amid  a  perpetual  retinue  of 
beauties ;  the  painting,  the  statue,  the  vase,  the  temple,  all  assumed 
novel  forms  of  elegance.  In  all  this  it  is  not  the  splendor  of  Athens 


80 


PERICLES. 


which  attracts  us  most,  it  is  that  indefatigable  genius  of  enterprise 
and  industry  which,  from  the  caves  of  the  Morea,  plucked  the  laurel, 
and  made  the  wild  waves  of  the  JEgean  tributary  to  her  wants  and 
her  valor."  So  prevalent  was  this  spirit  of  free  trade  and  personal 
enterprise,  that  ordinary  mechanics  often  gained  great  power  in 
the  republic ;  as  in  the  person  of  Cleon,  the  tanner,  who  became  a 
worthy  successor  of  Pericles.  The  port  of  the  great  artistic,  manu- 
facturing, and  commercial  emporium,  was  so  thronged  with  ships 
from  every  clime,  as  to  justify  the  saying  of  Xenophon,  that  the 
dominion  of  the  sea  secured  to  the  Athenians  the  sweets  of  the 
world.  Nor  were  their  own  craft  insignificant  in  size,  or  any  way 
unworthy  of  the  great  people  they  served.  Demosthenes  refers  to 
one  ship  which  carried  three  hundred  men,  a  full  cargo,  numerous 
slaves,  and  the  ordinary  crew. 

It  is  granted  that  art  was  the  parent  of  science ;  the  genial  and 
comely  mother  of  a  daughter  possessing  a  yet  loftier  and  serener 
beauty  than  herself.  It  is  equally  true  that  Doric  columns,  and 
decorated  entablatures,  were  perfected  like  the  integral  parts  of  the 
Attic  drama,  before  professional  critics  vouchsafed  to  apply  rules 
for  the  three  unities,  or  canons  of  monumental  forms.  What  crea- 
tive spirit  in  their  age  actually  did,  scientific  judges  afterward 
patronized  with  frigid  nomenclatures,  and  learnedly  demonstrated 
that  it  might  by  certain  rules  be  done. 

Under  the  Ptolemies,  neither  poets'  nor  artists  were  produced ; 
but  the  mathematical  school  of  Alexandria  exhibited  an  extraordi- 
nary succession  of  remarkable  men.  Within  the  secluded  halls 
and  ample  libraries  of  that  central  college,  the  exact  sciences  were 
assiduously  cultivated,  and  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  immense 
resources  of  learning  were  stored,  in  due  time  to  be  dispersed  over 
the  prepared  West.  The  works  of  Euclid,  ApoUonius,  and  Archi- 
medes, contain  a  valuable  treasure  of  the  mathematical  knowledge 
of  antiquity ;  but  at  the  early  period  w^hen  they  lived,  science  was 
so  immature,  and  the  amount  of  observations  so  limited,  they  could 
only  lay  the  foundation  of  that  excellence  to  which  posterity  has 
since  arrived.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Aristotelian  treatises  the 
exploration  of  this  realm  subsided,  and  the  human  mind  remained, 
in  appearance,  stationary  for  nearly  two  thousand  years. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


PHILOSOPHY. 

The  term  philosopher,  or  lover  of  wisdom,  is  an  appellation  which 
was  first  applied  by  Pythagoras,  of  Samos.  He  was  the  originator 
of  the  Italic,  as  Thales,  his  predecessor,  one  of  the  sophoi  or  wise 
men,  was  of  the  Ionic  school,  about  b.  c.  640  years.  Philosophy 
means  a  search  after  wisdom.  When  this  is  looked  for  among 
the  things  that  are  seen  and  handled,  weighed  and  measured,  it  is 
physical  philosophy.  But  he  who  seeks  for  an  object  which  is  not 
of  this  material  kind,  is  called  a  metaphysical  philosopher. 

All  philosophical  elements  are  in  the  East,  but  enveloped  in  one 
another,  needing  a  distinct  and  matured  growth.  As  the  roots  of  the 
modern  world  are  in  classic  antiquity,  so  those  of  classic  antiquity 
are  on  the  coasts  of  Egypt,  in  the  vales  of  Persia,  and  on  the  heights 
of  Asia.  The  oriental  world  preceded  Greece,  but  has  left  no  legi- 
ble record  of  her  past.  In  the  progressive  West  alone  does  authen- 
tic history  begin,  and  this  is  embodied  in  history,  as  in  every  other 
branch  of  human  improvement.  The  world  of  humanity  was  seen 
to  take  a  step  forward,  when  civilization  descended  through  Asia 
Minor,  and  traversed  the  Mediterranean  to  rest  on  the  coasts  of 
Attica.  Then  all  the  elements  of  human  nature  came  under  a  new 
condition,  and  soon  adopted  the  permanent  order  of  an  independent 
march. 

The  earliest  philosophy  of  Greece  had  an  Asiatic  origin,  and  was 
received  through  Ionia.  Many  fragments  from  that  source  were 
incorporated  in  the  works  of  Homer  and  Hesiod,  and  others  are 
quoted  by  the  primitive  annalists  from  the  still  more  ancient  oracu- 
lar poetry.  Sir  William  Jones  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  six  lead- 
ing schools,  whose  principles  are  explained  in  the  Dersana  Sastra, 
comprise  all  the  metaphysics  of  the  old  Academy,  the  Stoa,  and  the 

4* 


82 


PERICLES. 


Lyceum.  "  Nor,"  continues  he,  "  is  it  possible  to  read  the  Vedasta, 
or  the  many  compositions  in  illustration  of  it,  without  believing  that 
Pythagoras  and  Plato  deriv^ed  their  sublime  theories  from  the  same 
fountain  with  the  sages  of  India."  In  the  mathematical  sciences,  the 
Hindoos  were  acquainted  with  the  decimal  notation  by  nine  digits 
and  zero.  In  algebra,  Mr.  Colebrooke  found  reason  to  conclude 
that  the  Greeks  were  far  behind  the  Hindoos ;  but  it  is  possible  that 
the  latter  was  obtained  fi-om  the  Morea  at  a  later  period  through  the 
Arabs.  But  on  the  question  of  philosophy,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  incipient  notions  existed  in  Hindoostan,  compared  with  which 
the  antiquity  of  Pythagoras  is  but  of  yesterday ;  and  in  point  of 
daring,  the  boldest  flights  of  Plato  were  tame  and  common- 
place. 

Grecian  art,  which  rose  to  absolute  perfection,  ended  also  with 
itself,  and  presents  a  striking  exemplification  of  the  perishable  nature 
of  merely  instinctive  greatness.  But  the  philosophy  of  that  won- 
derful people  was  more  immutably  founded,  and  has  never  ceased 
to  show  that  the  human  race,  unlike  an  unbroken  circle  constantly 
revolving  upon  itself,  progressively  advances  into  the  infinite,  and 
shines  unremittingly  with  inborn  ardor  to  attain  the  highest  and 
noblest  ends.  Humanity,  that  is,  thought,  art,  science,  philosophy, 
and  religion,  the  powers  w^hich  are  represented  in  history,  embraces 
all,  profits  by  all,  advances  continually  through  all,  and  never  retro- 
grades. A  given  system  may  perish,  and  this  may  be  a  misfortune 
to  itself,  but  not  to  the  general  weal.  If  it  possessed  real  life,  that  life 
is  still  realized  in  some  higher  manifestation,  but  perhaps  so  modi- 
fied by  co-operative  elements  as  to  appear  lost.  It  may  indeed  be 
obscured,  but  can  never  be  obliterated.  Vicissitudes  and  revolu- 
tions may  rapidly  succeed,  and  in  great  confusion ;  but  human  des- 
tiny is  higher  and  better  than  these,  it  accepts  all,  assimilates  all, 
and  subordinates  all  to  its  own  supreme  behests.  Every  epoch,  in 
retiring  fi'om  the  stage  of  the  world,  leaves  after  it  a  long  heritage 
of  contrary  interests ;  but  these  only  wait  for  a  suflftcient  accumu- 
lation of  other  like  elements,  that  with  them  a  homogeneous 
amalgam  may  be  formed  as  the  basis  of  yet  worthier  superaddi- 
tions.  The  Hellenic  mind  invented  the  art  of  deducing  truth  from 
principles  by  the  dialectical  process,  and  this  divinest  of  Japhetic 
discoveries  has  exerted  the  most  auspicious  influence  on  subsequent 


PHILOSOPHY. 


83 


philosophy  and  religion.  The  world  had  already  learned  much 
when  the  Greek  first  demonstrated  that  reasoning  might  often  err, 
but  reason  never.  That  is  the  only  medium  through  which  truth 
is  conveyed,  and  Greek  philosophy  was  truly  precious  when  it  be- 
came to  mankind  the  translation  of  the  instinctive  consciousness  of 
God  into  reasoning.  This  was  first  applied  to  fathom  the  depths 
of  physical  speculation ;  and,  then,  in  the  consecrated  soul  of  Soc- 
rates, it  labored  to  possess  the  bosom  of  universal  humanity,  that 
thereby  it  might  unfold  to  all  the  highest  science.  Shem  trans- 
formed figurative  signs  into  simple  letters,  and  invented  the  Alpha- 
bet ;  but  that  greater  prophet  of  the  human  race,  Japhet,  did  vastly 
more,  by  translating  the  hieroglyphics  of  thought  into  simple  ele- 
ments, thereby  inventing  dialectical  philosophy.  This  changed 
myths,  legends,  and  visions,  as  well  as  more  authentic  annals  into 
the  heirloom  of  mankind  by  reason,  and  became  at  once  and  for  all 
time  the  great  organon  for  dealing  with  both  conception  and  exist- 
ence of  all  kinds  everywhere. 

There  was  military  activity  enough  among  the  Greeks  to  preserve 
them  from  intellectual  and  moral  torpor,  but  fortunately  it  did  not 
exist  in  sufficient  force  to  engross  the  faculties  of  superior  minds. 
Therefore,  energies  of  the  highest  order  were  thrown  back  upon  in- 
tellectual pursuits ;  and  the  masses,  so  led,  were  also  inclined  to  like 
culture,  especially  in  the  direction  of  aesthetics  and  philosophy. 
The  bold  writers  of  the  Republic  shrunk  not  from  propounding  all 
those  problems  in  science  and  morals  most  interesting  to  man ;  and, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  skill  in  solving  them,  they  certainly 
were  the  first  to  point  the  way  to  true  greatness.  But  for  the  rest- 
less spirit  of  inquiry  which  was  awakened  by  Greek  philosophers, 
the  western  nations  might  still  have  been  slumbering  in  barbarian 
ignorance.  Ancient  dialectics  prepared  the  way  for  modern  prog- 
ress, by  teaching  intellect  to  discipline  and  comprehend  itself,  in 
order  that  it  may  accurately  scan  nature  and  bind  her  forces  to  the 
car  of  human  welfare.  Such  was  the  idea  expressed  by  Aristotle, 
when  he  said :  "  The  order  of  the  universe  is  like  that  of  a  family, 
of  which  each  member  has  its  part  not  arbitrarily  or  capriciously 
enforced,  but  prefixed  and  appointed ;  all  in  their  diversified  fiinc- 
tions  conspiring  to  the  harmony  of  the  whole." 

Philosophy,  like  the  literature,  art,  and  science  of  the  ancients, 


84 


PERICLES. 


had  its  origin  among  the  Asiatic  Greeks.  The  same  region  that 
gave  existence  and  character  to  Homer  and  Herodotus,  produced 
also  Thales,  Anaximander,  Anaximenes,  and  Heraclitus,  founders  of 
the  Ionic  school.  They  belonged  to  the  same  region,  studied  under 
like  auspices,  and  formed  continuous  links  in  the  great  chain  of 
perpetual  progress.  To  the  same  source  is  to  be  accredited  those 
who  extended  the  Ionic  doctrines  to  Magna  Grecia  and  southern 
Italy,  such  as  the  poet  Zenophanes,  and  that  mighty  founder  of  the 
most  erudite  confederacy,  Pythagoras. 

Anaxagoras,  successor  of  Anaximenes,  was  born  b.  c.  500  years. 
After  giving  great  distinction  to  the  Ionic  school,  he  came  to  reside 
at  Athens,  where  he  taught  Pericles  and  Euripides,  at  the  same 
time  he  was  opening  the  source  from  which  Socrates  derived  his 
knowledge  of  natural  philosophy. 

Parmenides,  Zeus,  and  Leucippus,  natives  of  Elea,  enhanced  the 
reputation  of  the  Eleatic  school,  founded  by  Zenophanes,  about 
B.  c.  600  years.  Democritus,  a  disciple  of  Leucippus,  increased  its 
fame  still  more,  but  modified  its  doctrines  extensively. 

Socrates,  according  to  Cicero,  "  brought  down  philosophy  from 
heaven  to  dwell  upon  earth,  who  made  her  even  an  inmate  of  our 
habitations."  His  discomfiture  of  the  Sophists,  whose  futile  logic 
inflicted  much  injury  on  the  Athenian  mind,  was  a  great  blessing 
to  his  country,  but  one  which  cost  the  benefactor  his  life.  His  doc- 
trines were  never  committed  to  writing  by  himself,  but  have  been  pre- 
served in  substance  by  his  distinguished  pupils  Plato  and  Xenophon. 

The  Cyrenaic  sect  was  founded  by  Aristippus,  a  disciple  of 
Socrates.  It  degenerated  through  the  varied  succession  of  Theodorus, 
Hegesias,  and  Anniceris,  to  merge  finally  in  the  kindred  doctrines 
on  happiness  inculcated  by  Epicurus. 

Antisthenes  was  the  first  of  the  Cynics,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  more  notorious  Diogenes.  This  school  was  composed  of  dis- 
ciplinarians, rather  than  doctrinists,  whose  whole  business  was  the 
endeavor  to  arrange  the  circumstances  of  life,  that  they  may  pro- 
duce the  maximum  of  pleasure  and  the  minimum  of  pain.  The 
caustic  wit  of  Diogenes  was  directed  against  more  refined  teachers, 
especially  his  great  cotemporary,  Plato.  The  latter,  in  terms  which 
implied  respect  for  the  evident  talents  of  a  rival  whom  he  had  so 
much  reason  to  despise,  called  him  "  a  Socrates  run  mad." 


PHILOSOPHY. 


85 


Archelaus  succeeded  Diogenes,  and  was  called,  by  way  of  emi- 
nence, "  tlie  natural  philosopher."  Before  him,  Anaxagoras  had 
taught  occasional  disciples  in  Athens  ;  but  it  is  probable  that 
Archelaus  was  the  first  to  open  a  regular  school  there.  He  trans- 
ferred the  chair  of  philosophy  from  Ionia  to  the  metropolis  of 
Minerva  450  years  before  Christ. 

The  Megaric  sect  of  Sophists  was  the  last  and  worst.  It  was 
founded  by  Euclid es,  and  produced  Eubulides,  Alexinus,  Eleensis, 
Diodorus,  and  Stilpo.  Cotemporary  criticism  apphed  to  some  of 
these  such  epithets  as  the  Wrangler,  or  the  Driveler,  which,  doubt- 
less, were  well  deserved.  Stilpo  was  the  last  gleam  of  philosophic 
worth  in  Greece. 

Of  the  religious  views  of  Socrates,  we  shall  treat  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapter.  Under  the  present  head,  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that 
his  moral  worth  illustrated  the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  and  his  admi- 
ring disciples  branched  into  so  many  distinguished  families  or  schools, 
that  he  is  justly  called  the  great  patriarch  of  philosophy.  Socrates 
was  the  first  philosophic  thinker  who  demanded  of  himself  and  of 
all  others  a  reason  for  their  thoughts.  He  roused  the  spirit,  and 
rendered  it  fruitful  by  rugged  husbandry.  He  insisted  that  men 
should  understand  themselves,  and  so  express  their  reason  as  to  be 
understood  by  him.  Thus  he  produced  all  he  desired,  movement, 
advancement  in  reflection ;  and  leaving  successors  to  arrange  sys- 
tems, it  was  enough  for  him  to  supervise  the  birth  and  growth  of 
living  thoughts.  As  the  Pythagoreans  were  the  authors  of  mathe- 
^  matics  and  cosmology,  Socrates  consummated  the  scientific  endeavor, 
and  added  psychology.  Thus  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
human  personality  stood  revealed,  the  crowning  light  most  needed 
to  complete  the  age  of  Pericles.  Around  this  fundamental  idea 
created  by  psychology  was  gathered  the  idea  of  personal  grandeur, 
in  heaven  as  upon  earth,  in  literature,  art,  science,  philosophy,  and 
religion.  As  soon  as  philosophic  genius  proclaimed  the  supreme 
importance  of  the  study  of  human  personality,  the  higher  divinities 
became  personal,  and  the  representations  of  art  no  longer  fell  into 
exaggerated  forms,  but  were  definite,  expressive,  and  refined. 
Moreover,  as  this  principle  prevailed  and  was  acutely  felt,  legislation 
became  liberal,  and  the  social  polity  was  necessarily  democratic. 

Plato,  the  great  glory  of  Athenian  philosophy,  was  bom  in 


86 


PERICLES. 


u^giua,  about  b.  c.  430  years.  Descending  from  Codms  and 
Solon,  his  lineage  was  most  distinguished  ;  but  his  genius  was  mucli 
more  illustrious  than  any  ancestral  fame.  He  learned  dialectics 
from  Euclides  the  Megaric ;  studied  the  Pythagorean  system  under 
Phitolaus  and  Archytas ;  and  traveled  into  Egypt  to  accomplish 
himself  in  all  that  which  the  geometry  and  other  learning  of  that 
country  could  impart.  Returning  to  Greece,  he  became  the  most 
characteristic  and  renowned  teacher  of  philosophy  in  the  Periclean 
age.  Demosthenes,  Isocrates,  and  Aristotle  were  among  his  disci- 
ples, and  continuators  of  his  immense  mental  and  moral  worth. 
Plato  also  visited  Italy,  where  he  gathered  the  noble  germs  which 
he  grafted  on  the  doctrines  of  Socrates,  and  which  are  not  accounted 
for  in  Xenophon.  On  his  final  return  to  Athens,  he  took  possession 
of  a  modest  apartment  adjacent  to  the  groves  and  grounds  which 
had  been  bequeathed  by  Academus  to  the  public,  wherein  he  lec- 
tured to  the  public  on  sublime  themes.  He  divided  philosophy  into 
three  parts — Morals,  Physics,  and  I)ialectics.  The  first  division 
included  politics,  and  under  the  second,  that  science  which  after- 
ward came  to  be  distinguished  by  the  name  of  metaphysics.  In  his 
Commonwealth,  the  object  of  Plato  was  to  project  a  perfect  model 
to  which  human  institutions  might  in  some  remote  degree  approxi- 
mate. He  seems  even  at  that  early  day  to  have  had  a  presentiment 
of  the  ennobling  republicanism  which  human  progress  would  neces- 
sitate and  attain.  His  writings  form  a  mass  of  literary  and  moral 
wisdom,  inculcated  with  the  highest  charm  of  thought  and  manner, 
which  had  ever  appeared  to  exalt  the  imagination  and  affect  the 
heart.  He  was,  doubtless,  the  best  prose  writer  of  antiquity ;  in  the 
form  and  force  of  his  composition,  he  stands  at  the  highest  point  of 
refinement  Attic  genius  ever  attained.  He  died  at  Athens,  eighty- 
one  years  old,  and  was  honored  with  a  monument  in  the  Academy, 
upon  which  his  famous  pupil,  Aristotle,  inscribed  an  epitaph  in 
terms  of  reverence  and  gratitude. 

The  philosophy  to  which  Plato  gives  his  name,  recalls  at  once  all 
that  is  most  profound  in  thought  and  pleasing  in  imagination.  But 
no  isolated  genius  can  be  correctly  appreciated.  His  predecessors, 
Socrates  and  Anaxagoras,  as  well  as  his  successors,  the  Neoplato- 
nists,  must  be  taken  into  joint  consideration,  or  the  great  master  in 
whom  philosophic  grandeur  culminated  will  not  himself  be  properly 


PHILOSOPHY. 


87 


understood.  Neither  is  the  Sceptic  school  of  Pyrrho,  nor  the  Stoic 
school  of  Zeus;  Democritus,  of  Abdera,  radiant  with  smiles,  or 
Heraclitus,  of  Ephesus,  bathed  in  tears,  to  be  discarded  from  the 
^iew,  when  we  would  sum  up  the  aggregated  worth  of  that  philo- 
sophic age.  But  the  hour  has  come  when  the  god  of  philosophy,  a 
son  of  Metis,  or  Wisdom,  reahzed  the  menace  put  into  the  mouth 
of  Prometheus  by-^schylus,  and  Zeus  with  his  compeers  is  driven 
into  the  caverns  of  the  West  to  share  the  exile  of  Cronus.  Who 
was  the  predestined  instrument  of  all  this  ? 

Stagirus,  the  birthplace  of  Aristotle,  was  situated  pn  the  western 
side  of  the  Strymonic  gulf ;  a  region  which,  in  soil  and  appearance, 
resembles  much  the  southern  part  of  the  bay  of  Naples.  When 
seventeen  years  old,  he  came  to  Athens,  the  centre  of  all  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  focus  of  eveiy  thing  that  was  brilliant  in  action  or 
thought.  Plato  fii-ed  his  mind,  and  fortified  that  wonderful  indus- 
try in  his  hardy  pupil,  which  enabled  him,  first  among  men,  to  ac- 
quire almost  encyclopsedic  knowledge  in  collecting,  criticizing,  and 
digesting  the  most  comprehensive  mass  of  materials.  So  extraor- 
dinary was  the  application  of  Aristotle,  that  Plato  called  his  resi- 
dence "  the  house  of  the  reader." 

How  wQnderful  is  Providence !  While  Aristotle  was  exiled  in 
Mytilene,  and  when  the  auspices  of  human  progress  were  most  fore- 
boding, he  was  invited  to  undertake  the  training  of  one  who,  in 
the  world  of  action,  was  destined  to  achieve  an  empire  which  only 
that  of  his  master  in  the  world  of  thought  could  ever  surpass.  In 
the  conjunction  of  two  such  spirits,  according  to  the  predetermined 
mode  and  moment,  the  invaluable  accumulation  of  Periclean  wealth 
was  to  be  distributed  westward  without  the  slightest  loss.  The 
great  transition  hero  needed  to  be  trained  in  a  way  befitting  his 
mission,  and  this  required  that  he  should  be  imbued  with  some- 
thing better  than  the  austerity  of  Leonidas,  or  the  flattery  of  Ly- 
simachus,  so  that  his  character  might  command  respect,  and  his 
judgment  preserve  it.  Through  the  influence  of  Aristotle  on  Alex- 
ander, this  conservative  result  was  attained.  The  rude  and  intem- 
perate barbarian  became  ameliorated,  and  soon  manifested  that 
love  for  philosophy  and  elegant  letters,  which  were  the  fairest 
traits  of  his  life.  So  strong  did  this  elevating  passion  become, 
even  amid  the  ignoble  pursuits  of  war,  that  being  at  the  extremity 


88 


PERI  CLES. 


of  Asia,  in  a  letter  to  Harpalus,  he  desired  the  works  of  Philestris, 
the  historian,  the  tragedies  of  -^schylus,  vSophocles,  and  Euripides, 
and  the  dithyrambs  of  Telestis  and  Philoxenus,  to  be  sent  to  him. 
Homer  was  his  constant  travehng  companion;  a  copy  of  whom 
was  often  in  his  hands,  and  deposited  by  the  side  of  his  dagger 
under  his  nightly  pillow.  Thus  did  the  beautiful  age  of  Pericles 
blend  with  the  martial  force  about  to  succeed. 

When  Aristotle  returned  to  Athens  to  close  the  great  era  of 
philosophic  vigor,  being  near  the  temple  of  Apollo  Lyceus,  his 
school  was  known  as  the  Lyceum,  and  here  every  morning  and 
evening  he  addressed  a  numerous  body  of  scholars.  Among  the 
acute  and  impressible  Greeks  nearly  all  objects,  however  ideal  in 
their  original  treatment,  subsequently  received  a  practical  form. 
As  the  imaginative  sublimities  of  their  poets  became  embodied  in 
glorious  sculptures,  so  the  theories  of  their  early  philosophy  were 
wi'ought  out  politically,  or  gave  way  to  cumulative  mathematical 
demonstration.  Plato,  in  dialogues  and  dissertations,  philoso- 
phized with  all  the  fervor  of  an  artist ;  while  the  method  of  Aris- 
totle was  strictly  scientific  in  the  minute  as  well  as  enlarged  sense 
of  the  word.  To  the  first,'  philosophy  was  a  speciality  which  en- 
grossed a  protracted  life  ;  but  the  latter  treated  not  only  of  natural 
science,  and  natural  history  as  well,  but  he  also  wrote  on  politics, 
general  history,  and  criticism,  so  that  it  may  be  said  truly  that  he 
epitomized  the  entire  knowledge  of  the  Greeks.  The  age  of  Plato 
was  an  age  of  ideals ;  but  with  Aristotle  the  realistic  age  had 
dawned.  Pericles  had  begun  to  take  part  in  public  aflPairs  one 
year  before  the  birth  of  Socrates ;  Olynthus  was  taken  by  Philip 
of  Macedon  the  very  year  in  which  Plato  died.  This  intermediate 
period  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  was  all  occupied  with 
some  ideal  of  beauty,  wisdom,  or  freedom,  in  the  persons  of  poets, 
architects,  sculptors,  painters,  statesmen,  who  were  striving  to  real- 
ize it,  dreaming  of  it,  or  sporting  with  it  to  amaze  and  bewilder 
their  fellow-men.  But  the  name  of  Aristotle,  as  that  of  Philip,  is  a 
signal  that  concentrated  organizing  power  has  appeared  in  the 
realms  of  thought  and  action,  and  that  the  coming  age  requires  a 
philosophical  expounder  who  shall  in  his  own  career  govern  the 
old  and  represent  the  new.  It  was  at  Athens  that  Aristotle  col- 
lected all  the  treasures  of  scientific  facts  the  conquered  nations  could 


PHILOSOPHY. 


89 


contribute,  and  wrote  there  the  great  works  which  were  still  young 
in  their  influence  when  the  Macedonian  madman  had  long  since 
crumbled  into  dust. 

To  the  followers  of  Plato  in  the  Academy,  of  Aristotle  in  the 
Lyceum,  the  Cynics  of  the  Cynosargus,  and  Stoics  of  the  Portico, 
Epicurus  came  in  the  decrepid  effeminacy  of  the  age  at  the  moment 
of  its  lowest  degradation,  and,  amid  the  parterres  of  prettiness 
which,  with  the  pittance  of  eighty  minse,  he  purchased  for  the  pur- 
pose, established  the  so-called  philosophy  of  the  Garden.  Such 
was  the  last  expression  of  that  Ionian  school  which  shared  some- 
what of  the  Hindoo  national  character,  wherein  it  originated,  and 
so  far  resembled  a  hot-house  seed.  Opening  with  gorgeous  colors 
and  rich  perfume,  it  grew  rapidly,  and  produced  precocious  and 
abundant  fruit.  But  the  more  western  growth  was  like  the  oak, 
hardened  by  wind  and  weather,  striking  its  roots  into  solid  earth, 
and  stretching  its  branches  in  free  air  toward  both  sun  and  stars. 
In  the  Ionic  school  the  human  soul  performed  but  a  feeble  part. 
The  Italic  school,  on  the  contrary,  was  raathematic  and  astronomic, 
and  at  the  same  time  idealistic ;  it  was  at  once  the  brain  and  heart 
of  Grecian  progress  and  power.  The  former  regarded  the  relations 
of  phenomena  a-s  simple  modifications  of  the  same,  and  founded 
the  abstract  upon  the  concrete ;  whereas,  the  latter  neglected  the 
phenomena  themselves  for  their  relations,  founding  thus  the  concrete 
upon  the  abstract.  To  the  Ionic  school  the  centre  of  the  world's 
system  is  the  earth ;  but  the  centre  of  the  universal  system, 
according  to  conscious  reason  in  the  Italic  school,  is  the  sun. 
Ten  fundamental  numbers  therein  formed  the  decadal  astron- 
omy, the  harmonious  kosmos,  whose  laws  of  movement  around 
the  great  central  luminary  produced  the  sweet  music  of  the 
spheres. 

Empedocles,  of  Agrigentum,  b.  c.  455,  presents  the  most  western 
phase  of  Greek  character,  and  the  one  which  in  the  clearest  manner 
anticipated  the  age  to  come.  He  noted  the  great  changes  which 
transpired  in  society,  and  believed  he  saw  their  counterpart  in  the 
convulsions  going  on  within  and  upon  the  earth.  The  war  of  dis- 
organized humanity,  passions  against  nature,  and  the  conflict  of 
enraged  elements  among  themselves,  were  closely  considered,  but 
doubtless  with  a  confusion  of  physics  and  ethics  in  his  mind. 


90 


PERICLES. 


Love,  hatred,  friendship,  treason,  were  all  recognized  mixed  up  in 
the  fearful  warfare  of  earth,  air,  fire,  and  water.  Great  nature  was 
no  imaginary  battle-field  to  the  mind  of  Empedocles ;  the  hosts 
which  Homer  had  portrayed  fighting  for  Greeks  and  Trojans,  were 
still  in  deadly  struggle,  and  his  vivid  speculations  soon  after  became 
actual  history.  Cotemporaries  called  him  the  enchanter ;  because, 
as  a  zealous  student  of  the  outer  world,  he  could  not  disengage 
himself  from  the  perplexities  which  he  found  within  his  own 
constitution,  but  followed  out  with  fervor  the  greatest  question 
of  our  being.  He  not  only  won  at  the  chariot  race,  as  his  father 
did  before  him,  and  fought  for  the  liberties  of  his  native  Agrigen- 
tum,  that  last  hold  of  freedom  in  the  West,  but  as  poet,  as  well  as 
philosopher,  he  forms  a  curious  link  between  Homer,  Pindar,  and 
his  Roman  admirer,  Lucretius. 

As  often  as  the  historian  and  philosopher  speak  of  heroic  vir- 
tues, they  will  mention  Lycurgus,  and  the  influence  of  his  legisla- 
tion. But  when  they  glance  at  the  higher  objects  man  was  made 
to  attain,  the  harmonious  development  and  adornment  of  all  the 
powers  in  his  possession,  they  must  look  to  the  laws  of  a  nobler  cul- 
ture in  Attic  climes.  It  was  there  only,  that  all  ennobling  influ- 
ences were  blended  and  subordinated  to  the  highest  use  by  the  best 
minds.  Plato  frequented  the  studios  of  artists,  to  acquire  correct 
ideas  of  beauty ;  and  Aristotle,  in  his  Politics,  says,  that  "  all  were 
taught  literature,  gymnastics,  and  music ;  and  many  also,  the  art  of 
design,  as  being  useful  and  abundantly  available  for  the  purposes  of 
life."  But  not  one  beautiful  flower  of  intellect  or  art  sprang  in 
Laconian  soil,  to  acquire  thereon  either  healthful  vigor  or  attrac- 
tive growth.  No  gladdening  voice  of  the  poet  has  thence  de- 
scended, nor  were  the  obscurities  of  nature,  and  the  depths  of 
immortal  consciousness  either  investigated  or  enlightened  by  any 
of  her  sons. 

Thus  from  the  sublime  terrace  of  the  Acropolis,  have  we  cast 
another  glance  over  that  glorious  land  where  Homer  breathed 
forth  those  songs  for  six  and  twenty  centuries  unexcelled ;  where 
Phidias,  like  his  own  Jupiter,  sat  serene  on  the  loftiest  throne  of 
art ;  where  Pericles  ruled  with  sovereign  grandeur  in  the  first  of 
cities,  not  by  mercenary  arms,  but  by  the  magic  influence  of  mind ; 
where  Socrates  first  scanned  the  human  heart,  and  learned  to 


PHILOSOPHY.  91 

analyze  its  deep  and  mighty  workings ;  and  whence  the  royal  pupil 
of  Aristotle,  the  last  and  greatest  of  universal  victors,  Avent  forth  on 
the  mission  of  conquest,  not  designedly  to  plunder  and  destroy,  but 
to  spread  the  literature,  arts,  science,  philosophy,  and  religion  of 
immortal  Greece  throughout  the  civilized  world. 


/ 


CHAPTER  V. 

RELIGION. 

The  East  is  the  native  land  of  religion,  whence  a  perpetual  exo- 
dus has  continually  advanced  tovrard  the  West.  As  the  sun  in 
the  beginning,  so  truth  and  life  first  shone  from  the  orient;  and 
the  march  of  civilization  has  ever  since  been  in  the  direction  of 
that  great  orb. 

The  Assyrians  were  not  monotheistic,  but  they  were  far  from  be- 
ing so  polytheistic  as  the  Egyptians,  w^ho  were  imbued  with  an  Afri- 
can fetichism  such  as  never  debased  the  Asiatic  race.  Hence,  their 
symbolism  was  much  simpler  and  less  repulsive  than  that  of  the 
Egyptians.  The  ancient  Persians  were  less  superstitious  than  the 
Assyrians,  and  presented  their  paraphrase  of  Te  Deum  first  among 
intellectual  nations  without  temples.  They  have  left  nothing  that 
pertains  to  sacred  art,  not  even  tombs.  With  them  God  was  omni- 
present, fire  his  symbol,  the  firmament  his  throne,  the  sun  and 
stars  his  representatives,  the  elements  his  ministers,  and  the  most 
acceptable  worship  a  holy  life.  But  a  belief  in  the  existence  and 
exercise  of  supernatural  powers  is  older  than  the  magism  or  magic, 
whose  origin  belongs  to  that  indefinite  antiquity  which  witnessed 
the  feuds  of  Ninus  and  Zoroaster,  when  the  gods  instructed  the  In- 
dian devotee  how  to  subordinate  them  to  his  purposes,  or  when 
Odin  discovered  the  Runes,  which  could  chain  the  elements  and 
awake  the  dead.  Earlier  than  Assyrian  Chaldeans,  Israelitish  Le- 
vites,  or  Median  and  Persian  Magi,  religious  sentiments  were  native 
to  man,  and  magician  and  priest  were  synonymous  terms.  Then 
was  the  arbiter  of  weal  and  woe,  of  blessings  and  curses,  invested 
with  the  awful  privilege  of  invoking  the  gods  and  performing  re- 
ligious services.  Aided  by  popular  credulity,  the  inspired  seer 
could  move  mountains,  stir  up  Leviathan,  govern  disease,  or,  like 
Balaam,  destroy  foes  by  imprecations. 


RELIGION. 


93 


It  would  be  a  hopeless  task  to  trace  with  accuracy  the  theology 
of  the  earliest  periods,  buried  as  it  is  under  a  mass  of  allegory  and 
^ble  which  can  not  now  be  removed.  Yet  there  are  indications  of 
a  purer  morality,  and  a  more  worthy  faith,  than  is  portrayed  in  the 
anthropomorphic  mythology  of  the  Hesiodic  and  Homeric  poems. 
Inachus  is  supposed  to  have  migrated  from  the  Asian  shore  about 
the  same  time  the  Israelites  entered  Egypt.  Then,  the  worship 
prevalent  among  the  Nomadic  tribes  of  Asia,  according  to  Job, 
was  that  of  one  almighty  Creator,  typified  by,  and  already  half 
confounded  with  light,  either  the  sun  or  other  celestial  bodies. 
Plato  speaks  vaguely  of  the  divine  unity,  and  Aristotle  more  dis- 
tinctly avers,  that  "  it  was  an  ancient  saying  received  by  all  from 
their  ancestors,  that  all  things  exist  by  and  through  the  power  of 
God,  who  being  one,  was  known  by  many  names  according  to  his 
modes  of  manifestation." 

In  the  opening  chapter  of  this  work,  allusion  was  made  to  the 
Kylas  mountain  in  Asia,  from  the  lofty  terraces  of  which  the  an- 
cestors of  the  Greeks  descended,  bringing  with  them  to  Hellas  a 
memento  of  their  origin  in  the  word  koilon,  which  they  used  to 
designate  heaven,  and  illustrating  their  hereditary  theology  by  go- 
ing for  congenial  worship  to  the  loftiest  shrines.  The  best  authority 
tells  us  that  they  were  exceedingly  religious,  a  fact  which  even 
their  gi'ossest  errors  confirm.  Endowed  with  the  most  acute  and 
active  sensibilities,  the  Greek  sought  to  satisfy  the  ardent  aspirations 
of  his  devout  spirit ;  he  even  yearned  to  be  himself  enrolled  among 
the  deified  heroes  whom  his  valor  or  imagination  had  exalted  to 
the  dazzling  halls  of  Olympus.  This  general  impulse  may  be  illus- 
trated by  particular  examples,  as  in  the  subtle  Themistocles  and 
majestic  Pericles,  who  placidly  hailed  in  worship  traditions  dis- 
carded by  the  historic  mind  as  transparent  fictions.  So  powerful 
and  all  pervading  was  the  religiousness  of  the  cultivated  Greeks, 
that  the  same  judgment  which  so  profoundly  harmonized  with  the 
severe  grandeur  of  the  Olympian  Jove,  enthroned  by  Phidias  amid 
the  marshaled  columns  of  the  national  temple,  bowed  to  the  legend 
of  Aphrodite,  the  foam-born  queen  of  Love.  Heroism  and  piety 
were  perpetually  in\ngorated  at  costly  fanes  ;  and  how  deeply  the 
spirit  of  worship  and  belief  in  retribution,  were  impressed  upon  the 
most  powerful  intellect,  is  shown  by  the  awful  apostrophe  of  De- 


94 


PERICLES. 


mosthenes  to  the  heroes  who  fell  at  Marathon,  and  the  breathless 
attention  which  then  absorbed  the  very  soul  of  the  Athenian. 

In  the  land  of  Ham  nothing  was  nobler  than  a  few  dull  emblems 
of  thought,  sitting  on  a  lotus  leaf,  immersed  in  the  contemplation 
of  their  own  divinity,  or  fierce  warrior-deities,  Moloch  s,  Baals,  or 
Saturns,  while  the  classic  West  deified  the  sentiments  of  the  human 
mind ;  and,  though  steeped  in  viciousness,  yet  represented  as  beings 
presiding  over  nature  in  beautiful  and  commanding  forms.  A  po- 
tent spell  of  fascination  dwelt  in  the  mere  abstractions  of  pagan 
thought  embodied  in  a  Hebe,  Venus,  or  Minerva  ;  and  false  as  were 
the  spiritual  views  of  their  authors,  they  exercised  a  charm  of 
imagination -which  still  speaks  to  more  enlightened  intellects,  and 
evokes  sad  regrets  from  holier  hearts.  The  province  of  Shem  was 
faith  and  not  philosophy.  His  descendants  were  never  successful 
in  dialectics,  and  the  best  of  them  under  the  old  dispensation  only 
stated  the  matter  of  their  belief,  but  never  undertook  to  prove  it. 
When  Job  attempted  religious  argumentation,  and  would  justify 
the  ways  of  God  to  man  by  a  process  of  theodicean  philosophy,  he 
acknowledged  his  failure  by  avowing  the  incomprehensibility  of 
human  destinies.  And  when  the  pious  and  philosophic  Ecclesiastes 
attempted  to  argue  on  rationalistic  principles,  he  fell  into  inextri- 
cable doubt,  and  could  resist  despair  only  by  implicit  submission  to 
the  word  vouchsafed  from  heaven :  "  Fear  God  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man."  Such  was  the 
last  dictum  of  Hebraism  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  at  the 
moment  when  the  daring  speculation  of  Japhet  had  passed  its  cul- 
minating point.  This,  too,  was  the  age  of  Haggai  and  Malachi,  in 
whom  sacred  truth  is  announced  in  purely  didactic  and  not  argu- 
mentative forms.  Without  anticipating  the  designs  of  Providence, 
we  think  with  inexpressible  delight  of  the  last  and  best  expression 
of  Jewish  faith  united  to  Japhetic  reason,  and  happily  blended  to- 
gether in  the  splendors  of  an  infinitely  loftier  wisdom  to  enlighten 
mankind. 

The  functions  of  humanity  are  of  a  social  nature ;  they  merge  in 
the  whole  species,  and  have  rehgion  for  their  foundation  and  centre. 
If  absolute  isolation  were  possible  to  man,  it  would  virtually  nul- 
lify his  existence.  Only  societies  act  in  and  upon  the  world,  with 
religion  for  their  bond  and  protection.    Among  the  nations  which 


RELIGION. 


95 


have  shared  in  the  work  of  progress  accomplished  hitherto,  each 
has  exerted  an  influence  by  some  characteristic  feature,  some  special 
function  in  the  general  advance.  In  addition  to  the  literature,  art, 
science,  and  philosophy  of  the  Greeks,  we  should  carefully  note  the 
great  civilizing  might  which  dwelt  in  their  religion.  This  was  felt 
by  them  to  be  an  infinite  and  universal  necessity.  Without  it,  the 
social  state  is  impossible,  since  the  nature  of  man  demands  active 
progress  under  a  moral  law  too  exalted  to  emanate  from  human 
w^ill.  It  must  be  divinely  ordained,  and  in  a  way  which  clearly  in- 
dicates the  means  and  end  of  human  perfection.  That  alone  can 
create  and  proclaim  the  legitimate  end  of  human  activity,  at  the 
same  time  it  becomes  synonymous  with  religious  morality. 

The  ideas  which  obtain  among  different  nations  respecting  their 
own  creation,  are  usually  much  like  themselves.  Scandinavians  sup- 
pose that  they  sprang  from  dense  forests  on  their  hills,  the  Libyans 
from  the  sands  of  their  native  deserts,  while  the  Egyptians  con- 
ceived themselves  to  have  arisen  from  the  mud  of  the  Nile.  But 
the  cheerful  and  active  Greek  associated  his  origin  with  the  grass- 
hopper, and  went  singing  on  his  agile  way.  A  kindred  diversity 
exists  in  the  choice  made  by  nations  as  to  the  objects  to  be  adored. 
The  Egyptians  deified  water,  the  Phrygians  earth,  the  Assyrians 
air,  and  the  Persians  fire.  But  the  Greek,  impelled  by  nobler  in- 
stincts, went  beyond  grosser  natures  and  deified  himself.  The  mighty 
conclave  shining  round  the  resplendent  heights  of  Olympus,  was 
only  the  counterpart  of  a  vast  congregation  worshiping  below.  As 
Amon  or  Osiris  presides  among  the  deities  of  a  lower  grade,  Pan, 
with  the  music  of  his  pipe,  directs  the  chorus  of  the  constellations, 
and  Zeus  leads  the  solemn  procession  of  celestial  troops  in  the  as- 
tronomical theology  of  the  Pythagoreans.  The  apotheosis  of  Or- 
pheus, with  his  harp,  in  their  scientific  heavens,  is  a  starry  record 
of  oiiental  worship  sublimated  by  the  devout  intellect  of  Greece. 
The  nations  of  antiquity  believed  that  their  ancestors  dwelt  closely 
allied  to  the  gods,  or  were  gods  themselves.  Cadmus  and  Cecrops 
were  half  human,  half  divine.  The  Greeks  inherited  many  cos- 
mogonical  legends  fi-om  the  Hindoos,  out  of  which  was  composed 
the  theogony  of  Hesiod.  Thebes  rising  to  the  sound  of  Amphion's 
lyre,  was  the  world  awakening  at  the  music  of  the  shell  of  Vishnou. 
Conflicting  Centaurs  and  Lapithae,  Titans  and  giants,  are  supposed 


96 


PERICLES. 


to  represent  the  elemental  discord  out  of  which  arose  the  stability 
and  harmony  of  nature. 

The  gi'eat  heroes  of  India  became  the  chief  gods  of  Greece ;  so 
that  their  mythology  was  not  a  pure  invention,  but  rested  on  a  his- 
torical basis.  The  introduction  of  the  Lamaic  worship  into  north- 
eastern Hellas,  is  distinctly  preserved  in  the  earliest  religious  annals. 
The  famous  moralist  Pythagoras  was  the  special  devotee  and  pro- 
fessor of  eastern  doctrines,  and,  under  their  inspiration,  established 
a  brotherhood  strictly  devotional,  and  with  observances  of  monastic 
sanctity.  Grote  speaks  of  this  great  preacher  to  the  Grecian  race 
in  the  following  terms  :  "  In  his  prominent  vocation,  analogous  to 
that  of  Epimenides,  Orpheus,  or  Melampus,  he  appears  as  the  re- 
vealer  of  a  mode  of  life  calculated  to  raise  his  disciples  above  the 
level  of  mankind,  and  to  recommend  them  to  the  favor  of  the  gods ; 
the  Pythagorean  life,  hke  the  Orphic  life,  being  intended  as  the  ex- 
clusive prerogative  of  the  brotherhood,  approached  only  by  proba- 
tion and  initiatory  ceremonies,  which  were  adapted  to  select  enthu- 
siasts rather  than  to  an  indiscriminate  crowd,  and  exacting  active 
mental  devotion  to  the  master."  Traditionary  history  commem- 
orates a  wonderful  reformation  produced  by  this  stern  religionist  in 
diflferent  lands.  The  effect  produced  among  the  Crotoniates  by  the 
illustrious  missionary  of  morality  is  indicated  by  the  recorded  fact, 
that  two  thousand  persons  were  converted  under  his  first  discourse. 
The  Supreme  Council  were  so  penetrated  with  the  noble  powers  of 
the  Lamaic  apostle  that  they  offered  him  the  exalted  post  of  their 
President,  and  placed  at  the  head  of  the  religious  female  proces- 
sions his  wnfe  and  daughter. 

The  religion  of  the  Greeks  was  the  deification  of  the  faculties 
and  affections  of  man.  Human  character  and  personality  prepon- 
derated therein,  but  it  was  neither  inert  nor  wanting  in  intellect. 
The  passionless,  immovable  deities  of  Egypt  and  Persia  were  super- 
seded by  the  active  and  powerful  hierarchy  of  Olympus.  Free  and 
independent,  they  were  presided  over  by  the  great  conqueror  of  those 
blind  and  deaf  gods  of  necessity,  who  had  reigned  absolutely  over 
all  the  ancient  East.  Under  this  new  dispensation,  the  various  forces 
of  nature  were  emancipated  and  endowed  with  the  affections,  and 
subjected  to  the  weaknesses,  of  mortal  beings.  Fountains,  rivers, 
trees,  forests,  mountains,  rose  into  objects  of  adoration  under  the 


RELIGION. 


97 


form  of  nymphs,  goddesses,  and  gods.  Social  existence  was  elevated 
to  a  corresponding  degree,  by  the  removal  of  castes,  and  the  sacer- 
dotal despotisms  which  had  so  long  impeded  the  progress  of  demo- 
cratic principles  in  individual  and  social  life.  Preceding  nations, 
of  lively  sensibility,  had  reverenced  as  deities  single  rays  of  the 
Divine  Being  separated  from  their  great  centre ;  but  the  polytheism 
which  prevailed  over  adolescent  men,  appeared  in  Hellas  invested 
with  a  purer  majesty.  Oriental  polytheism  desecrated  its  altars  and 
temples  with  images  of  deformity ;  but  the  West  conceived  a  nobler 
symbol  of  divinity,  when  the  Greek  created  God  in  his  own  image, 
and  seemed  to  inhale  life-giving  breath  while  he  worshiped  in  the 
midst  of  every  phenomenon  that  could  refine  his  taste  or  stimulate 
his  imagination.  This  was  utterly  inadequate  to  the  attaimnent  of 
the  great  end  of  spiritual  existence;  but  one  important  step  in 
paganism  was  gained ;  natural  religion,  which  had  before  been  ab- 
sorbed in  the  immeasurableness  of  the  formless  infinite,  became 
fixed  to  the  eye  under  the  limitations  of  a  cognizable  form,  emi- 
nently human,  but  suggestive  of  the  divine.  Thus,  religion  pro- 
duced ideality  in  art,  and  art  fostered  enthusiasm  in  religion.  The 
beauty  and  dignity  of  many  altar-statues  appeared  to  have  de- 
scended from  a  higher  sphere,  and  commanded  the  reverence  due 
to  beings  of  celestial  birth.  The  earthly  was  so  blended  with  the 
heavenly,  and  visibly  presented,  that  Plato  looked  upon  the  har- 
mony as  something  complete,  and  most  ennobling  in  its  power  of 
assimilation.  In  all  the  public  enterprises  and  festal  assemblies  of 
the  Greeks,  a  high  religious  tone  was  present  which  paid  homage 
only  to  the  exalted  and  the  beautiful.  They  were  of  the  earth, 
earthy ;  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  look  back  with  respect  upon  that 
people  whose  whole  civilization  was  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  renun- 
ciation, sublime  self-sacrifice,  and  beneficent  deeds.  The  magical 
splendor  which  yet  pours  about  them,  in  the  depths  of  that  old 
world,  after  so  many  centuries,  is  nothing  else  than  the  reflection  of 
their  purer  worship  and  nobler  stamp  of  character.  Of  all  the 
states,  Athens,  in  this  regard,  as  in  every  other,  was  by  far  the 
noblest.  Sparta,  it  is  true,  appreciated  highly  the  blessings  of  lib- 
erty, and  was  not  only  content  by  a  joyless  existence  to  purchase 
this,  but  delighted  even  to  sacrifice  life  for  its  preservation.  But 
the  refined  capital  of  Minerva  went  beyond  the  severe  law  which, 

5 


98 


PERICLES. 


makes  a  useful  slave,  as  one  would  harden  a  growth  of  oak ;  she 
elicited  perfume  from  tlie  fairest  bloom  of  the  soul,  wherein  the 
moral  man  was  made  to  unfold  in  the  development  of  a  higher  free- 
dom. The  genius  of  the  Greek  was  as  profoundly  devotional  as  it 
was  emulative.  To  his  sensitive  imagination,  the  fair  objects  of 
nature  became  invested  with  a  living  personality ;  day  and  night 
presented  engrossing  deities,  while  he  adored  the  golden-haired 
Phoebus,  or  the  silvery  Artemis.  Actuated  by  a  g-lowing  fancy, 
material  creation  seemed  spiritualized,  and  each  agreeable  retreat 
was  the  habitation  of  a  god.  Naiads  in  the  fountains ;  Dryads  in 
the  groves ;  Fauns,  Satyrs,  and  Oreads  on  the  mountains,  indisso- 
lubly  associated  sublunary  scenes  with  intelligent  beings,  and 
kindled  the  starry  heavens  with  the  effulgence  of  supreme 
divinities. 

The  dawn  of  civilization  has  ever  been  confined  to  those  who 
were  intrusted  with  the  care  of  sacred  ceremonies,  and  who  devoted 
their  exclusive  knowledge  to  the  support  of  their  religion.  In  the 
beginning  all  contemplation  was  religious ;  the  whole  universe  was 
esteemed  divine,  and  it  was  to  the  solving  of  this  problem  that  the 
first  efforts  of  mind  were  given.  "  Whence,  and  who  am  I  ?"  are 
the  first  questions  which  occur  to  Brama,  as  represented  in  Hindoo 
theology,  when  he  awakens  to  conscious  being  amid  the  expanse 
of  waters.  But  the  early  Greek  sages  surveyed  nature  with  the 
more  penetrating  glance  of  a  Lynceus,  or  Atlas,  who  saw  down 
into  the  ocean  depths.  There  was  no  distinct  astronomy,  history, 
philosophy,  or  theology ;  there  was  but  one  mental  exercise,  whose 
results  were  called  "Wisdom."  It  was  this  personification  that 
Solomon  saw  standing  alone  with  God  before  the  creation.  All 
mythologies  may  in  one  sense  claim  to  rank  as  truths,  inasmuch  as 
they  in  fact  represent  what  once  existed  as  mental  conceptions.  On 
this  principle  the  Grecian  dogmas,  though  in  reahty  absurdities, 
are  most  worthy  of  attention,  because  they  are  expressed  in  the 
purest  forms.  Their  conceptions  of  superhuman  beings  were  pro- 
ducts of  the  devotional  sentiment.  Mature  was  to  them  a  perpetu- 
ally flowing  fountain,  whose  pellucid  waters  mirrored  earth  and 
sky ;  like  the  stream  in  which  Narcissus  was  dazzled  by  the  re- 
flection of  his  own  image,  and  beneath  whose  surface  he  bent  in 
sadness,  and  was  melted  into  its  transparent  depths. 


RELIGION. 


99 


Efibrts  to  deify  the  beautiful  existed  among  the  Hindoos  and 
Hebrews,  as  well  as  among  the  Greeks ;  but  in  the  former  races,  a 
wish  to  blend  in  one  expression  a  great  variety  of  theological  ideas 
obliterated  elegance,  and  rendered  the  idols  of  Egypt  and  India 
elaborate  metaphysical  enigmas,  a  sculptured  library  of  symbols, 
instead  of  an  attractive  gallery  of  religious  art.  But  in  Greece,  the 
development  of  sacred  imagery  fell  into  the  hands  of  masters  in 
■whom  the  character  of  priest  was  subordinate  to  that  of  artist; 
from  the  servant  art  became  the  mistress,  the  teacher,  even  the  in- 
stitutor  of  the  religion  in  whose  aid  she  had  been  employed,  and 
the  works  so  produced  were  received  as  fresh  revelations  from 
heaven. 

Poets  gave  a  local  habitation  to  the  gods,  and  were  the  first 
teachers  of  religion.  With  the  eye  of  taste,  and  impelled  by  senti- 
mental reverence,  they  people  the  hills  and  groves,  glens  and  rivers, 
with  imaginary  beings.  Much  of  the  Homeric  theology  is  of 
Egyptian  parentage,  but  in  his  hands  all  borrowed  material  was 
greatly  improved.  Mere  personification  of  natural  powers  became 
moral  agents ;  and,  instead  of  being  represented  under  disgusting 
images,  they  became  models  of  human  beauty,  elegance,  and  maj- 
esty. The  inspired  bards,  though  blind  without,  were  full  of  eyes 
within,  and  Acteon-like,  gazed  on  nature's  naked  loveHness  through 
the  light  of  their  illumined  souls.  To  these  poet-priests  of  nature, 
like  Orpheus,  or  Eumolpus,  was  ascribed  the  first  religious  estab- 
lishment, as  well  as  the  first  practical  compositions.  The  com- 
mencement of  literature  was  not  a  scheme  contrived  to  win  the 
savage  to  civilization :  it  was  the  wild  and  spontaneous  outburst 
of  religious  enthusiasm.  If  powerful  institutions  are  always  as- 
cribed to  distinguished  men  only,  it  is  simply  because  that  the  full 
light  of  common  thoughts  is  never  condensed  and  vividly  set  forth 
but  by  that  exalted  order  of  genius  which  is  the  rarest  of  gifts. 
Minds  of  the  finest  tone  express  the  most  comprehensive  doctrines, 
as  the  lyre  of  Orpheus,  and  the  pipe  of  Silenus,  sung  how  heaven 
and  earth  rose  out  of  chaos.  Atlas  taught  respecting  men  and 
beasts,  tempestuous  elements,  and  the  eclipses  and  irregularities  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.  The  laws  of  Menu,  like  those  of  Moses,  begin 
with  cosmogony ;  and  Niebuhr  has  shown  that  the  history  of  the 
Etruscans,  like  that  of  the  Brahmins  and  Chaldeans,  is  contained 


100 


PERICLES. 


iu  an  astronomico-theological  outline  embracing  the  whole  course 
of  time. 

Evidently  the  first  colonizers  of  Greece  brought  with  them  much 
of  the  simple  faith  and  worship  recorded  in  the  Hebrew  writings. 
A  stone,  or  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  was  set  up  for  a  memorial,  and,  ao 
cording  to  the  alarm  that  had  been  felt,  or  the  deliverance  experi- 
enced, on  some  spot  thereby  sanctified,  worship  was  ofi"ered  to  that 
great  Being  whose  rule  all  acknowledged,  but  whose  name  none 
ventured  to  pronounce.  Doubtless  the  excess  of  awe,  if  no  more 
mundane  influence,  generated  superstition ;  as  the  vow  of  Jephtha 
had  its  parallel  in  the  almost  cotemporaneous  sacrifice  of  Iphigenia, 
and  of  Polyxena.  It  was  this  barbarous  race  that  the  polished  and 
erudite  traveler,  Orpheus,  endeavored  to  civihze.  Perhaps,  as  in 
later  times,  he  imagined  that  hidden  doctrines  would  best  improve 
the  higher  classes ;  while  the  minds  of  the  vulgar  would  be  easier 
won  by  fables,  and  weaned  from  gloomy  superstitions  by  the  wor- 
ship of  divine  benevolence,  manifested  in  the  varied  products  and 
powers  of  nature.  The  attempt,  however,  failed,  and  the  grossness 
of  depraved  perceptions  converted  those  different  manifestations 
into  separate  deities,  so  that  difierent  localities  and  cities  came  to 
have  their  tutelary  stone,  or  wooden  idol,  or  marble  statue.  The 
temple  was  built  on  the  spot  hallowed  by  devotion,  as  at  Bethel ; 
but  in  a  subsequent  age  the  impulse  of  the  original  consecration 
was  no  longer  felt,  and  its  intent  was  forgotten.  The  gorgeous 
fane,  and  the  fascinating  image  therein,  became  objects  of  degene- 
rate worship ;  the  source  of  profit  to  a  mercenary  priesthood,  and 
of  deterioration  to  the  most  intellectual  and  moral  of  mankind. 

Monuments  were  early  erected  in  grateful  commemoration  of 
religious  events,  as  the  hill  of  stones  by  Jacob  and  Laban ;  or  to 
gratify  secular  ambition,  as  was  exemplified  in  the  tower  of  Babel. 
In  Greece,  when  the  pioneers  were  feeble,  the  first  settlers  chose 
some  hill  readily  defensible,  and  having  fortified  the  summit  as  the 
first  space  to  be  occupied,  they  proceeded  to  build  a  taphos,  or 
temple  for  the  divinity.  Such  was  the  origin  of  Athens.  The  in- 
closed city  was  called  Cecropia,  from  Cecrops,  it  is  said,  who  first 
founded  the  state,  and  his  was  the  first  place  of  worship  for  the 
original  inhabitants.  Others  interpret  Acropolis  to  mean  "  Height 
of  the  City,"  which,  in  this  instance,  was  accessible  only  on  the 


RELIGION. 


101 


western  side,  through  the  Propyhea,  and  was  crowned  by  that 
shi'ine  of  Truth  and  Wisdom,  the  Parthenon.  Rehgious  instincts 
have  ever  sought  the  vast  soHtudes  of  untainted  nature,  or  the  open 
heights  of  the  mighty  temple  of  the  great  God,  whereon  the  pure 
spirit  of  love  reigns  and  smiles  over  all.  Pilgrimages  were  made 
to  the  oaks  of  Mamre,  near  Hebron,  from  the  days  of  Abraham ; 
and  the  nations  surrounding  the  divinely  favored  tribes  conspired 
to  attach  the  idea  of  veneration  to  rivers  and  fountains^  and  were 
accustomed  not  only  to  dedicate  trees  and  groves  to  their  deities, 
but  even  to  sacrifice  on  high  mountains;  customs  which  were 
practiced  by  the  Jews  themselves,  previous  to  the  building  of  Sol- 
omon's temple.  The  beginning  of  wisdom  was  in  the  wilds  oi 
Asia,  and  it  was  there  that  the  God  of  nature  implanted  grand 
ideas  in  the  minds  of  shepherds,  meditating  on  those  antique  emi- 
nences, teaching  them  to  wonder  and  adore.  As  the  loftiest 
mountains  are  surmounted  with  the  most  unsullied  snow,  so  the 
purest  sentiments  crowned  their  elevated  souls,  and  forever  rendered 
them  the  chief  source  of  fertilizing  streams  to  all  lands,  through 
every  region  of  thought. 

In  Greece,  there  was  no  hereditary  priesthood,  as  in  Egypt.  The 
right  of  presiding  at  public  sacrifices  pertained  to  the  highest  civil 
oflice,  and  probably  the  head  of  each  family  was  also  its  ecclesiastic ; 
but  there  was  no  priestly  combination  with  secular  power,  and  no 
national  creed.  Nestor,  at  home,  conducts  religious  service,  aided 
by  his  sons,  and  Achilles  offers  sacrifice  to  the  manes  of  Patroclus. 
Pausanias  informs  us  that  early  in  Arcadia,  the  twelve  gods  were 
worshiped  under  the  forms  of  rude  stones ;  and  before  Daedalus, 
the  statues  had  eyes  nearly  shut,  legs  close  together,  and  the  arms 
scarcely  detached  from  the  body ;  but  as  the  correlative  arts  and 
sciences  improved,  sculpture,  like  the  civilization  it  expressed, 
acquired  freedom,  proportion,  and  natural  action.  Altars  were 
commonly  erected  in  the  open  air,  and  propitiatory  offerings  most 
frequently  smoked  before  Zeus,  Poseidon,  Athene,  and  Apollo. 
The  first  three  of  these  are  better  known  under  their  Latin  desig- 
nations of  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and  Minerva.  The  supremacy  of  the 
first  over  all  inferior  deities  is  decisively  marked.  His  own  declar- 
ation, according  to  Homer,  is  at  the  same  time  the  most  affirmative 
on  this  point,  and  a  curious  indication  of  the  social  condition  of  the 


102 


PERICLES. 


gods.  Says  the  supreme,  "  If  I  catch  any  one  of  you  helping  the 
Trojans  or  the  Greeks,  he  shall  either  make  his  escape  to  Olympus 
disgraced  and  bruised,  or  else  I  will  seize  him,  and  throw  him  into 
Tartarus.  Then  you  shall  know  my  supremacy  in  power.  Come, 
now,  make  the  trial ;  hang  a  gold  chain  from  heaven,  and  fasten 
yourselves  at  the  end  of  it,  all  of  you,  gods  and  goddesses ;  you 
can  not  pull  Zeus  down,  but,  whenever  I  please,  I  can  pull  you  up 
■with  the  earth  and  the  sea,  wind  the  chain  round  Olympus,  and 
there  you  would  all  dangle  in  the  air." 

According  to  Herodotus,  the  Egyptians  invented  twelve  gods, 
which  were  imported  into  Greece.  These  were,  doubtless,  of  the 
lowest  order  of  merit,  but  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  the 
report  that  the  worship  of  stone  images  originated  in  the  East. 
Venus  was  first  adored  at  Paphos  under  the  form  of  an  aerolite 
fallen  from  heaven.  It  was  by  such  circumstances  that  a  special 
sanctity  was  conferred  upon  particular  localities.  The  artistic  merit 
of  the  idols  was  vastly  improved,  but  still  the  theology  of  the  Greeks 
remained  purely  anthropomorphous,  the  human  form  being  to  them 
the  paragon  of  excellence.  But  to  his  whole  intellectual  being 
this  was  a  representative,  the  embodiment  and  very  identity  of 
divinity.  All  the  susceptibilities  of  his  immortal  nature,  full  of  the 
endless  enthusiasms  respecting  every  thing  splendid,  so  that  in  the 
estimation  of  an  apostle,  he  was  "  very  religious,"  were  exercised  to 
refine  this  image  and  exalt  it.  Living,  he  did  this,  and  dying,  he 
looked  beyond  the  grave  but  to  a  world  of  men,  sublimated,  indeed, 
but  still  with  human  passions,  and  capable  of  human  enjoyments. 
He  turned  with  fond  desire  toward  the  radiance  of  the  descending 
sun,  which  with  genial  glories  seemed  wooing  him  to  another  and 
purer  earth.  The  great  ocean  stream  severed  the  world  of  debasing 
toil  from  the  bright  sphere  of  not  less  active  but  nobler  pursuits, 
and  on  that  western  shore  he  anticipated  fairer  as  well  as  more 
abundant  fruits  than  the  East  might  behold.  The  great  national 
altar  on  the  Acropolis  was  exterior  to  the  temple,  and  fronted  the 
setting  sun. 

Egyptian  worship  was  so  closely  allied  to  that  of  India,  that  when 
the  sepoys  in  Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie's  expedition  entered  the 
ancient  temples  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  they  immediately  asserted 
that  their  own  divinities  were  discovered  upon  the  walls,  and  wor- 


RELIGION. 


103 


shiped  them  accordingly.  But  no  such  identity  ever  existed  with 
the  purer  forms  of  the  West.  All  the  gods  of  Hellenic  Greeks, 
from  Jupiter  down  to  Hercules,  were  the  ancestors  of  the  primitive 
Pelasgic  tribes  which  existed  in  Asia  Minor,  Crete,  and  the  islands 
of  the  Archipelago,  but  seldom  in  Greece  itself.  At  its  intellectual 
and  moral  centre,  Egyptian  fetichism  had  some  influence  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Indo-Germanic  metaphysics  a  good  deal  on  the  other ; 
still  the  chief  element  in  Greek  mythology  was  hero-worship,  made 
as  unexceptionable  as  it  could  be  by  a  people  whose  religion  mainly 
consisted  in  ancestral  adoration.  True,  their  whole  system  was  a 
fable  and  an  absurdity ;  but  the  puerilities  which  defaced  its  beauty 
were  the  remnant  of  a  more  barbarous  state  of  things  upon  which 
they  improved,  and  we  may  wonder  most  that  they  so  far  emanci- 
pated themselves, 

Orpheus  is  said  to  have  come  from  Thrace,  a  region  of  indefinite 
extent  in  the  estimation  of  the  Greek,  and  one  which  was  a  chief 
source  of  the  Hellenic  sacred  rites.  Both  the  Orphic  and  Pytha- 
gorean doctrines  Herodotus  believed  to  have  emanated  from  Egypt, 
which  would  appear  to  support  the  fact  of  a  double  current  of 
-emigration,  clearly  proved  on  other  grounds.  This  great  religionist 
was  older  than  Homer,  and  seems  to  have  exerted  a  great  influence 
'  on  the  civilization  of  Greece.  It  is  said  he  accompanied  Jason  and 
the  other  Argonauts  on  their  piratical  expedition,  that  he  visited 
Egypt,  and  brought  thence  the  doctrine  which  greatly  corrupted 
the  rude  but  simple  theology  of  primitive  times.  Many  hymns 
attributed  to  him  are  probably  spurious;  but  enough  was  authentic 
to  the  ancients  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  he  taught  the  doctrine 
of  one  self-existing  God,  the  maker  of  all  things,  and  who  is  present 
to  us  in  all  His  works.  But  this  great  truth  was  always  somewhat 
disguised,  and  grew  increasingly  fabulous.  Cudworth  preserves  the 
following  specimen :  "  The  origin  of  the  earth  was  ocean ;  when 
the  water  subsided,  mud  remained,  and  from  both  of  these  sprang 
a  living  creature — a  dragon  having  the  head  of  a  lion  growing 
from  it,  and  in  the  midst,  the  face  of  God ;  by  name  Hercules,  or 
Chronos."  By  him  an  immense  egg  was  produced,  which  being 
split  into  two  parts,  one  became  the  heavens  the  other  the  earth. 
Heaven  and  earth  mingled,  and  produced  Titans  or  giants. 

The  Delphic  oracle  occupied  a  high  position  in  the  poHtical  and 


104 


PERICLES. 


religious  government  of  mankind.  It  liad  a  powerful  influence  m 
molding  the  first  national  confederacy,  and  was  its  presiding 
centre.  Both  Strabo  and  Pausanias  specially  refer  to  the  Amphic- 
tyonic  league,  as  being  formed  for  the  maintenance  of  harmony 
and  union  among  the  states  which  composed  it.  The  original 
confederacy  was  greatly  enlarged  by  the  Dorian  accession  ;  oracular 
control  was  thus  extended  throughout  the  Peloponnesus,  and  soon 
embraced  within  its  influence  the  entire  Grecian  world.  By  this 
central  assimilative  and  directing  power  the  mighty  repubUc  was 
happily  consummated,  and  its  citizens  first  termed  Hellenes.  It 
was  by  the  peculiarity  of  its  oracular  system,  even  more  than  by  the 
other  traits  we  have  noticed,  that  the  Greek  rehgion  was  distin- 
guished from  that  which  prevailed  in  Egypt,  and  the  yet  remoter 
East.  Based  as  it  was  on  delusion,  it  still  was  a  great  improvement 
upon  the  preceding,  inasmuch  as  it  was  presented  in  a  higher 
character  than  the  mere  constitution  of  nature.  According  to  the 
Delphic  teaching,  the  supreme  Deity  was  a  moral  and  personal 
being,  actively  interesting  himself  in  human  afi*airs,  and  claiming 
authority  over  human  volitions.  Hence,  while  the  oriental  systems 
displayed  only  a  crowd  of  mere  personifications  of  jjatural  powers, 
without  moral  character  or  substantial  being,  the  system  of  the 
Greeks  presented  a  divine  reality  for  the  human  mind  to  embrace ; 
an  actual  course  of  Providence,  and  deities  palpably  real  to  religious 
feelings.  Amidst  a  multitude  of  deformities,  the  most  marked 
feature  of  the  Greek  religion  stood  forth  in  enhancing,  if  not  with 
ennobhng  beauty.  The  Egyptians  worshiped  animals,  but  the 
Greeks  never  sank  lower  than  the  worship  of  idealized  man.  The 
former  were  superstitious  upon  physical  objects,  their  system  resting 
upon  a  physical  deity ;  but  the  latter  adored  a  moral  deity,  and, 
however  disastrous  superstition  ever  is,  hero-worship  was  not 
entirely  void  of  redeeming  qualities.  It  held  up  ancient  worthies 
for  the  imitation  of  successors,  rendei^ed  their  memories  motives  to 
excellence,  and,  by  the  sublimating  power  of  oracular  canonization, 
exerted  a  mighty  influence  in  the  spheres  of  political  and  moral 
fife.  Lessons  of  respect  for  antiquity,  and  submission  to  authority, 
were  constantly  inculcated,  the  effect  of  which  shines  clearly  in  the 
Grecian  character,  exemplified  in  all  the  tumultuous  growth  and 
varied  grandeur  of  her  democracy.    It  was  a  lofty  hero-worship, 


RELIGION. 


105 


fostered  by  their  sacred  system,  which  fortified  the  sentiments  of 
reverence  and  subordination  in  the  popular  mind,  and  suppHed 
at  once  motive  and  restraint  in  every  sphere  of  secular  and  religious 
life.  Their  approximation  to  truth  took  the  boldest  form  of  super- 
stition, and  indicates  the  working  of  a  higher  order  of  mind  than 
had  yet  appeared.  The  Greeks  were  a  nation  of  poets  and  philoso- 
phers as  acutely  refined  in  understanding  as  they  were  tender  of 
heart,  and,  since  we  still  turn  their  writings  to  a  moral  account, 
our  sympathy  for  the  worth  they  attained  should  furnish  some 
degree  of  apology  for  the  errors  which  they  unfortunately  embraced. 
The  reahty  and  firmness  of  their  belief  in  divination  was  tested,  for 
example,  at  Plataea,  when  the  Greeks  sustained  the  charge  of  the 
Persian  cavalry,  and  "because  the  \'ictims  were,  not  favorable, 
there  fell  of  them  at  that  time  very  many,  and  far  more  were 
wounded."  And  whether  the  national  fleet  should  risk  a  battle 
at  Salamis  was  determined  in  council  by  the  appearance  of  an 
owl.  How  strange  that  when  courage  and  wisdom  had  failed 
to  persuade,  superstition  saved  the  liberties  of  the  world ! 
It  is  painful  to  contemplate  the  human  mind  debased  by  such 
childish  absurdities,  commingled  with  traits  so  fair,  and  excellences 
so  great.  Still,  despite  all  its  fraud  and  folly,  the  religion  of  Greece 
contained  much  that  was  both  admirable  in  morality  and  profound 
in  speculation.  Hooker  remarks, "  The  right  conceit  that  they  had, 
that  to  perjury  vengeance  is  due,  was  not  without  good  effect,  as 
touching  the  course  of  their  lives." 

The  tragic  genius  of  ^schylus  was  imbued  with  religious  senti- 
ment, and  found  its  fittest  material  in  the  simple  and  sublime  tradi- 
tions of  his  forefathers.  He  has  handed  down  to  our  days  clear 
memorials  of  the  still  popular  faith,  in  his  noble  drama  of  Prome- 
theus Bound ;  wherein  he  represents  Jupiter  as  sending  to  beg  from 
the  tortured  prophet  a  revelation  of  the  yet  future  decrees  of  des- 
tiny. This  mythical  benefactor,  the  most  significant  of  ancient 
religious  fables,  was  a  Japhetite,  who  brought  his  celestial  fire  fi'om 
the  remote  East  to  man.  Prometheus  indignantly  refuses  to  gratify 
the  curiosity  of  his  oppressor,  and  utters  severe  invectives  against 
the  new  power  of  Jove.  He  alludes  to  wars  in  which  he  had  him- 
self assisted  him,  leads  us  back  to  the  first  colonization  of  Greece, 
and  leaves  us  justly  to  conclude  that  the  nature-worship  of  Orpheus 

5* 


106 


PERICLES. 


had  been  mixed  up  with  hero-worship  also,  and  that  the  Jupiter  of 
the  poets  was  little  better  than  a  Cretan  pirate,  who,  with  his  asso- 
ciates, drove  out  the  Asian  chief  already  beginning  to  civilize  the 
people,  and  banished  him  to  the  wild  regions  of  the  Caucasus.  The 
several  centuries  which  transpired  between  Prometheus  and  Hesiod 
was  a  period  long  enough  in  legendary  times  to  invest  heroes,  or 
benefactors  of  the  human  race,  with  supernatural  attributes.  JEschy- 
lus  set  forth  a  yet  sublimer  article  of  Athenian  belief,  when  he  rep- 
resented the  two  Powers,  immovable  destiny  and  human  conscious- 
ness, weighing  the  motives  of  the  son  of  Agamemnon,  and,  under 
the  presiding  auspices  of  the  goddess  of  Wisdom,  leaving  the  ulti- 
mate decision  to  the  Areopagus.  God-conscious  reason  was  thus 
called  upon  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  past,  and  to  proclaim  the 
eternal  ways  of  infinite  justice  to  coming  generations.  Herodotus, 
also,  in  the  clear  light  of  Hellenic  freedom,  recapitulated  lapsed 
centuries,  and  foretold  future  destinies,  through  the  prophetic  mir- 
ror of  Nemesis,  that  clearest  reflection  of  Greek  religiousness ;  and, 
like  his  predecessor,  pictured  the  divine  drama  of  eternal  law  and 
retribution.  Thucydides  followed,  and  became  the  final  prophet  of 
the  great  struggle  of  his  nation,  and  her  influence  in  the  develop- 
ments of  future  time. 

Sophocles,  of  all  the  dramatists,  was  the  most  religious;  his 
whole  life  was  said  to  be  one  continual  worship,  and  his  writings 
are  redolent  of  his  tender  spirit.  The  (Edipus  Colonaeus  was  a 
marked  consecration  after  death ;  the  gods  conferred  that  honor,  to 
show  that  in  the  terrible  example  they  made  of  him,  it  was  not 
personal  vengeance,  but  a  salutary  admonition  designed  for  the 
whole  human  race.  That  the  self-condemned  criminal  should  at 
last  find  peace  in  the  grove  of  the  Furies,  the  very  spot  from  which 
guilt  would  instinctively  shrink  with  acutest  horror,  bears  a  moral 
of  profound  and  tranquilizing  significancy. 

The  moral  charms  of  domestic  affection  in  antiquity  are  depicted 
by  Homer,  in  what  is  undoubtedly  an  embellished,  but  may  have 
been  a  real,  scene.  The  manly  beauty  of  Hector,  the  feminine 
graces  of  Andromache,  and  the  budding  charms  of  the  babe 
Astyanax,  live  before  us  in  vivid  representation.  Such  a  blending 
of  gentleness  and  strength  is  not  often  seen  on  earth,  as  was  mani- 
fested by  him  who  set  aside  his  burnished  armor  lest  its  sti-ange 


RELIGION. 


107 


dazzling  should  frighten  his  child.  Paternal  affection  indeed  sits 
grac<ifully  on  the  plumed  helmet  of  this  bravest  hero  of  Troy,  but 
not  even  that  can  dissuade  him  from  the  conscientious  discharge  of 
a  most  comprehensive  duty.  Neither  the  entreaties  of  a  wife,  the 
prayere  of  a  fother,  the  tears  of  a  mother,  nor  his  own  fondest  pa- 
rental hopes,  could  divert  him  from  his  devotion  to  country  and 
religion.  He  knows  and  feels  that  inexorable  fate  has  declared 
against  him,  but  he  bows  to  the  will  of  the  gods  with  a  heroism 
equaled  only  by  the  placid  self-denial  which  silences  both  inclina- 
tion and  interest  in  his  bosom. 

The  ancient  games  were  moral  in  their  purpose  and  influence. 
Of  the  great  number  of  athletes  who  gained  prizes  thereat,  very 
few  became  famous  in  warlike  pursuits.  Their  enthusiasm  flowed 
from  a  higher  and  purer  source.  The  vigorous,  disinterested,  salu- 
tary, and  heaven-appointed  contest  was  to  the  Greeks  a  thrilling 
symbol  of  an  exalted  life,  the  struggle  through  an  emulative  career 
of  exhausting  duties,  in  order  to  attain  and  enjoy,  at  the  goal  of 
consummate  glory,  the  reward  of  a  blissful  immortality. 

'  All  the  sti'ay  sybiliine  leaves  of  ancient  history  and  legendary 
faith  are  inscribed  with  indications  of  a  moral  order  of  the  universe, 
and  encourage  the  expectation  of  perpetual  progress.  Pindar  be- 
lieved that  the  beginning  and  end  of  man  were  divinely  ordained ; 
and  while  many  erudite  teachers  held  to  the  supremacy  of  fate,  none 
were  ever  so  foolish  as  to  suppose  that  accident  governed  the  world. 

Socrates  was  the  first  to  turn  speculation  from  physical  nature  to 
man;  and  his  celebrated  "demon"  announced  the  birth  of  con- 
science into  the  Grecian  world.  It  was  a  divine  teacher  ever  pres- 
ent, taking  cognizance  of  the  most  secret  movements  of  mind  and 
will,  and  Avho  reproved,  restrained,  warned  him  as  to  all  things 
everywhere.  So  far  from  wondering  at  his  martyrdom,  in  view  of 
the  purity  and  boldness  of  his  teaching,  Mr.  Grote  very  reasonably 
wonders  how  such  a  man  should  have  been  allowed  to  go  on  teach- 
ing so  long.  No  state,  he  adds,  ever  showed  so  much  tolerance  for 
differences  of  opinion  as  Athens.  According  to  his  various  writings, 
we  infer  that  the  god  of  Plato  was  not  an  idea  simply,  but  a  real 
being,  endowed  with  supreme  intelligence,  movement,  and  life.  He 
was  beauty  without  mixture,  and  went  out  of  himself  to  produce 
man  and  the  world  by  the  effusion  of  his  own  goodness.  This 


108 


PERICLES. 


great  pupil  of  Socratic  wisdom  was  profoundly  imbued  with  that 
religious  sentiment  which  is  the  lofty  distinction  of  humanity,  and 
which  neither  superstition  can  utterly  debase,  nor  worldliness  ex- 
tinguish. But  a  feeling  alone,  however  refined,  can  never  consti- 
tute safety  in  religion.  The  Republic  terminates  with  a  noble  dis- 
cussion on  immortahty,  and  if  it  has  been  less  popular  than  the 
Phoedo,  it  is  because  the  scenery  of  it  is  less  startling ;  but  for  in- 
trinsic worth,  it  is  doubtless  entitled  to  the  greatest  consid- 
eration. 

Gross  polytheism  was  the  creed  of  the  multitude,  but  this  was 
much  refined  by  the  moralists.  The  graces  and  perfections  of  the 
great  intelligences  that  rule  the  world,  under  the  controlling  wis- 
dom and  care  of  the  one  omnipotent,  were  so  described  in  the  dia- 
logues of  Plato,  and  by  Pythagoreans,  as  to  furnish  not  only  models 
of  perfect  beauty  to  art,  but  also  the  most  attractive  traits  of  person 
and  character  to  the  various  orders  of  the  Grecian  hierarchy. 

The  Greeks  felt  that  the  origin  of  art  was  divine,  since  it  was  the 
offspring  of  religion.  The  first  rhythmical  expression  was  a  hymn, 
and  the  first  creations  of  plastic  genius  were  dedicated  to  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Godhead.  Jupiter,  whose  awful  nod  shook  the  poles, 
was  yet  benignant  in  his  majesty,  and  could  smile  with  bewitching 
fascination  on  his  daughter  Venus.  Beauty  was  universally  ex- 
pressed, whether  in  the  gorgeous  sanctuary  of  their  religious  wor- 
ship, or  the  simplest  implement  of  ordinary  use ;  the  heart-rending 
anguish  of  the  priest  Laocoon  and  his  sons,  or  in  the  sculptured 
deity  of  day  himself.  In  the  opinion  of  Visconti,  the  Apollo  Bel- 
videre  is  the  Deliverer  from  Evil  as  well  as  God  of  Light,  and  was 
made  by  Calamis,  to  be  set  up  at  Athens  in  memory  of  a  plague 
which  had  desolated  that  city.  In  life,  the  consecrated  champion 
was  greeted  with  the  praises  of  appreciative  countrymen,  and  divine 
honors  followed  his  decease. 

The  idea  of  divine  omniscience  seems  to  have  profoundly  actu- 
ated the  Greeks  in  the  execution  of  all  their  great  religious  works. 
It  gave  perfection  to  every  part  of  their  edifices,  essential  and  orna- 
mental, and  impressed  upon  each  part  alike  a  feeling  purely  devo- 
tional. What  escaped  the  human  eye,  the  Deity  beheld,  and  there- 
fore every  mass  and  molding,  frieze  and  pediment,  bas-relief  and 
statue,  should  bo  rendered  equally  worthy  of  that  immortal  Being 


RELIGION.  109 

to  whom  the  edifice  was  consecrated.  As  fine  a  finisli  was  bestowed 
upon  the  hidden  portions  as  upon  the  exposed,  as  is  proved  by  the 
fragmentary  master-pieces  we  still  possess,  the  most  elaborated 
features  of  which  were  never  seen  from  below  when  in  their  original 
positions.     The  material  which  Athens  employed  to  eternize  her 
mental  conceptions  was  happily  adapted  in  texture  and  tone  to  the 
end  desired.    On  one  side  lay  the  quan-ies  of  sparkling  Pentilic 
and  veined  Carystian,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  pearl-hke  beauty 
of  Megarean ;  all  of  which,  impregnated  by  the  creative  genius  of 
the  poets,  and  obedient  to  the  talismanic  touch  of  the  sculptors, 
came  forth  from  the  marble  tomb  of  Attica  a  new-born  progeny 
stamped  with  all  the  lineaments  of  their  noble  parent.    Thus,  as 
the  thought  of  Homer  coalesced  with  the  executive  might  of 
Phidias  and  his  associates,  the  awful  gods  of  his  country  spread  an 
invincible  palladium  over  the  patriotic  citizen,  and  rendered  their 
terror  ever  present  to  the  eyes  of  treachery  and  guilt.    If  the 
Sphinx,  the  Centaur,  and  Satyr  were  sometimes  demanded  by  the 
legendary  element  of  the  ancestral  East  yet  lingering  in  the  national 
faith,  the  effort  to  subjugate  the  grotesque  to  the  laws  of  beauty 
was  no  less  successful  than  it  was  diflScult,  and  twenty  centuries 
have  admired  the  result.    The  corporate  religious  crafts  of  India 
and  Egypt  were  abandoned,  but  the  divinest  element  therein  was 
still  preserved,  and  made  to  cast  a  hallowed  spell  over  country  and 
home,  making  each  father  the  high  priest  of  his  domestic  temple, 
and  planting  household  gods  round  every  hearth.   An  all-pervading 
religious  influence  was  stamped  on  every  rank  of  character,  every 
region  of  nature,  every  t3rpe  of  art,  and  every  department  of  enter- 
prise.   It  exalted  the  dauntless  courage  of  Miltiades,  and  added 
energy  to  the  lofty  daring  of  Themistocles,  as  they  were  conscious 
that  the  gods  from  Olympus  gazed  upon  them  in  the  fight,  and 
were  their  guardians,  as  of  old  they  had  been  to  their  ancestors  on 
the  plains  of  Troy. 

With  a  very  feW  exceptional  cases,  the  art  of  the  Greeks  is  never 
voluptuous,  even  in  its  earthly  matter  and  shape.  Under  the  pious 
feehngs  of  the  maker,  as  he  breathed  into  it  the  soul  of  a  lofty 
enthusiasm,  dead  material  shaped  itself  into  a  nature  as  elevated  as 
the  source  from  which  its  strength  was  derived.  And  this  moral 
dignity  and  grace  which  were  born  from  the  artist  in  his  process  of 


no 


PERICLES. 


creation,  communicated  themselves  in  turn  to  the  beholder ;  and 
the  consecrated  feeling  in  which  the  godlike  conception  was  devel- 
oped, generated  an  atmosphere  of  sanctity  around  it,  as  manifested 
divinity  is  supposed  to  drive  demons  away,  li  was  fitting  that  in 
the  groves  of  Delphi,  Lycurgus  should  conceive  the  idea  of  his 
laws,  and  from  the  mouth  of  Apollo  receive  their  ratification.  All 
the  great  and  wise  legislators  of  antiquity  cultivated  an  intercourse 
with  the  gods,  and  continued  to  covet  the  privilege  of  their  society. 
The  excellence  of  great  works  of  religious  art  consists  in  the  prin- 
ciple, that  the  purity  and  nobleness  with  which  they  were  imbued 
pass  into  their  admirers ;  and  thus  the  serene  repose  and  celestial 
fervor  in  which  they  are  conceived  are  perpetually  reproduced  so 
long  as  the  original  qualities  endure.  The  earliest  poetry  was  re- 
ligious, and  its  spirit  migrated  through  succeeding  generations ; 
and,  even  down  to  the  most  degenerate  age,  perpetuated  a  delicate 
moral  sense  in  the  judgment,  and  mostly,  also,  in  the  works  of  the 
Greek  nation.  The  refined  taste,  for  which  they  have  always  been 
extolled,  was  produced  entirely  by  this.  Even  the  wit-intoxicated 
muse  of  Aristophanes  perpetually  maintains  a  chaste  demeanor, 
and  shows  on  her  earnest  countenance  the  moral  meaning  of  her 
gayety. 

Although  the  system  of  Athenian  life  was  deformed  by  many 
imperfections,  yet  never  at  an  earlier  period  had  so  much  energy, 
virtue,  and  beauty,  been  developed ;  never  was  blind  force  and  ob- 
durate will  so  disciplined  and  ennobled,  as  dming  the  century 
which  preceded  the  death  of  Socrates.  If  the  early  Pythian  and 
Dodonean  oracles  tended  to  consohdate  national  union,  the  im- 
proved wisdom  of  later  philosophers  did  much  to  cultivate  the  citi- 
zens. Many  a  Grecian,  engarlanded  with  laurel,  then  adorned  the 
various  walks  of  secular  and  moral  life.  It  is  probable  that  some  were 
self-deceiyed,  when  no  unworthy  fraud  was  intended.  Vividly 
conscious  of  a  calling  to  some  great  vocation,  and  seeking,  in  the 
depths  of  their  own  imperfect  rehgiousness,  for  the  means  of  ful- 
fiUing  it,  they  felt  what  seemed  to  be  veritable  inspiration,  and 
accepted  as  the  voices  of  supernatural  beings  what  was  in  fact  only 
the  promptings  of  their  own  minds.  To  this  influence,  in  great 
part,  must  be  accredited  much  of  the  sublimity  of  Homer,  patriot- 
ism of  TyrtJEUs,  enthusiasm  of  Pindar,  terror  of  JEschylus,  and 


RELIGION. 


Ill 


tenderness  of  Sophocles.  The  presence  of  divinity  was  indeed  so 
palpable  and  enduring,  that  many  nations,  invulnerable  to  Grecian 
arras,  received  her  beautiful  system  of  mythology,  and  crowded 
her  temples  with  eagerness  to  listen  to  her  sacred  instruction. 
Lightning  strikes  only  kindred  matter,  which  it  seeks  and  salutes 
in  the  vividness  of  its  own  flash ;  and  thus  do  great  and  eflfulgent 
examples  glow  into  genial  hearts,  strengthen  their  illuminating 
power  as  they  extend,  and  burn  with  greater  splendor  the  wider 
they  are  diffused. 

The  more  reflecting  among  the  ancients  seem  to  have  keenly 
felt  that  earth  and  time  are  not  ample  enough  to  admit  the  full 
unfolding  of  the  human  soul.  In  man,  the  microcosm,  they  recog- 
nized the  universe  and  its  Maker,  but  it  was  by  a  very  imperfect 
^asion.  They  needed  a  clearer  light,  even  that  of  the  true  God,  to 
fill  the  profundity  within  them,  and  to  reveal  eternity  unto  them, 
that  they  might  in  reality  know  the  vastness  of  their  spiritual 
being.  The  vital  seeds  which  the  Almighty  cast  with  a  bountiful 
hand  into  the  new-made  earth,  and  which  have  not  yet  produced 
all  their  fruits,  in  Attica  sprang  up  with  a  wonderful  profusion,  but 
the  harvest  was  that  of  beauty,  and  not  holiness.  The  dew  of 
Hermon,  the  eteraal  sunshine  of  Zion,  the  transforming  and  tem- 
pering breath  of  Jehovah,  are  ever  requisite  to  develop  the  higher 
capabilities  of  the  soul,  and  elicit  sanctified  fruit  from  those  mighty 
powers  which,  for  bhss  or  bane,  germinate  in  every  mortal  breast, 
and  can  never  die.  The  poetical  idolatry  of  Greece  is  often  invested 
with  a  magical  beauty  to  classical  enthusiasts ;  but  the  thoughtful 
reader  of  history  will  often  stumble  upon  most  disenchanting  facts, 
such  as,  for  instance,  that  Themistocles,  the  deliverer  of  his  coun- 
try, offered  up  three  youths,  to  propitiate  the  favor  of  his  gods.  A 
supreme  Being  was  nominally  recognized ;  and,  though  this  doc- 
trine was  practically  destroyed  by  the  admission  of  subordinate 
deities  to  share  in  the  oflSces  of  praise  and  prayer,  still  it  was  better 
than  absolute  atheism.  The  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  of  fire  by 
night,  clearly  or  dimly  seen,  has  never  ceased  to  lead  the  vanguard 
of  advancing  humanity.  It  was  something  that  the  voice  of  praise, 
humiliation,  and  prayer,  was  raised  to  some  object  in  public  wor- 
ship, and  thus  the  feelings  of  religion  kept  alive  in  aspiring  souls. 
It  is  to  be  deplored  that  the  most  cultivated  of  ancient  nations  did 


112 


PERICLES. 


not  possess  and  appreciate  purer  religious  light ;  and  most  of  all  is 
it  a  grief  and  a  warning  that,  if  in  the  time  of  Homer,  social  mo- 
rality was  bad,  in  the  age  of  Pericles  it  was  worse.  When  Athenian 
life  had  received  the  most  exquisite  polish,  and  human  intellect  the 
richest  disciphne,  then  it  was  that  public  fanes  were  most  aban- 
doned, and  private  virtue  was  most  debased. 

Nature  is  most  perfect  in  her  forms  the  higher  she  ascends ;  and 
man,  standing  at  the  apex  of  her  wonders,  is  appointed  to  partake 
of  the  divine  nature,  through  the  homogeneous  medium  who  bends 
from  a  celestial  height  for  his  relief ;  when  so  reached  and  reno- 
vated, the  godlike  part  of  the  redeemed  is  molded  to  a  whole  of 
the  purest,  holiest,  and,  therefore,  most  enchanting  harmony.  The 
Greeks  had  their  idealization  of  beneficence  and  atonement  set 
forth  in  Hercules  and  Prometheus.  The  genealogy  of  the  first  was 
connected  with  Egypt  and  Persia.  He  was  lineally  descended  from 
Perseus,  whose  mortal  mother  claimed  connection  with  an  Egyptian 
emigrant.  He  was  the  great  epic  subject  of  the  poets  before  Ho- 
mer, the  model  chief  of  those  who  fought  at  Thebes  or  Troy,  and, 
at  a  later  period,  was  the  allegory  of  human  eflfort  ascending 
through  rugged  valor  to  the  highest  virtue.  He  was  the  ideal 
perfection  of  the  ordinary  life  of  the  Greeks,  as  the  higher  exaggera- 
tion of  heroes,  invested  with  immortality,  became  gods.  Every 
pagan  nation  has  had  such  a  mythical  being,  whose  strength  or 
weakness,  victories  or  defeats,  measurably  describe  the  career  of 
the  sun  through  the  seasons.  A  Scythian,  an  Etruscan,  and  a  Ly- 
dian  Hercules  existed,  whose  legends  all  became  tributary  to  those 
of  the  Greek  hero.  His  name  is  supposed  to  mean  rover  and  per- 
ambulator of  earth,  as  well  as  hyperion  of  the  sky,  and  he  was  the 
patronizing  model  of  those  famous  navigators  who  spread  his  altars 
from  coast  to  coast  through  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  extreme  West, 
where  Arkaleus  built  the  city  of  Gades  (Cadiz),  on  which  perpet- 
ual fire  burned  at  his  shrine.  So  deep  and  pervading  were  religious 
sentiments  in  that  wonderful  people  at  the  best  epoch,  that  not 
only  in  lowland  towns,  and  on  metropolitan  eminences,  were  tem- 
ples erected  to  the  national  deities,  but  also  on  lofty  promontories; 
near  the  sea,  beneficent  zeal  provided  fanes  exclusively  for  the 
casual  worship  of  the  passing  mariner.  The  notion  of  a  suffering 
deity,  of  one  who,  tortured,  blinded,  or  imprisoned,  might  represent 


RELIGION. 


113 


the  earthly  speculations  of  his  worshipers,  and,  as  a  penitent,  their 
religious  emotions,  was  widely  spread,  from  India  westward,  and 
by  the  Greeks  was  fixed  forever  in  Prometheus,  the  ever  dying  and 
yet  deathless  Titan.  Ancient  sages  taught  that  the  discord  of 
stormy  elements  would  be  dissolved  and  reduced  to  peace  by  the 
power  of  love,  and  the  magic  of  beauty  in  the  renovated  soul  would 
eventually  curb  its  passions  with  a  gentle  rein ;  but  how  the  infi- 
nite should  coalesce  with  the  finite,  God  with  man,  and  thus  trans- 
form the  soul  by  planting  therein  the  germ  of  almighty  blessedness, 
they  never  by  uninspired  wisdom  could  comprehend.  A  mediator 
of  unearthly  excellence  was  indeed  requisite ;  one  who  would  realize 
in  his  person  the  loftiest  ideas  of  beauty  and  sublimity,  whose  wis- 
dom would  be  competent  to  elevate  beyond  mere  morality,  and 
whose  grace  would  forever  unfold  the  revelation  of  heavenly  life. 
Not  only,  like  the  son  of  Tydeus,  ought  that  luminary  to  come 
forth,  with  glory  blazing  round  it,  and  kindling  admiration,  as  well 
as  emulous  delight,  in  the  outward  world,  but  his  beauty  must 
specially  pervade  within,  and  transfigure  every  secret  impulse  with 
the  splendors  of  his  imparted  Godhead. 

Such  a  divine  need  was  generally  felt,  and  this  was  the  cause  of 
that  high  estimation  in  the  common  mind  which  the  devout 
moralists  enjoyed.  Homer  inculcated  the  idea  that  life  is  a  con- 
test ;  and  Plato  directed  his  hearers  to  the  search  after  unity  as  the 
source  of  truth  and  beauty ;  ^schylus  to  power  ;  Euripides  to  the 
law  of  expiation.  The  contempt  of  life  and  pleasure,  the  superiority 
of  the  intellectual  over  the  physical  nature,  are  expressed  by  these 
and  kindred  writers  in  great  thoughts  which  are  almost  identical 
with  the  light  of  faith.  Heraclitus  taught  Hesiod,  Pythagoras, 
Zenophanes,  and  Hecateus,  that  the  sole  wisdom  consists  in  know- 
ing the  will  according  to  which  all  things  in  the  world  are  gov- 
erned. Marsilius  Ficinus  says  that  Socrates  was  raised  up  by 
heaven  to  pacify  minds ;  and  St.  John  Chrysostom  proposes  him  as 
an  example  of  Christian  poverty  and  monastic  profession.  St. 
Augustine  entertained  equal  admiration  for  one  who  preferred 
eternal  to  temporal  things,  fearing  to  act  unjustly  more  than  death, 
and  for  conscience  sake  was  ready  to  undergo  labor,  penury,  insult, 
and  death.  In  the  Enthypro  of  Platonician  wisdom,  Socrates  dis- 
engages ideas  from  words ;  in  the  Apology,  he  shows  that  the 


114 


PERICLES. 


wisest  are  the  most  humble,  and  that  we  must  bear  our  witness  to 
truth,  even  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  ;  in  the  Laws,  that  the  soul  has 
need  of  a  celestial  light  to  be  able  to  see ;  in  the  Crito,  that  the  - 
least  duty  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  greatest  advantage ;  in  the 
Phsedo,  that  life  should  be  employed  in  elevating  the  soul — that 
there  is  a  future  existence — and  that  the  soul  should  be  disengaged 
from  the  body ;  in  the  ThejBtetus,  that  the  germ  of  truth  resides  in 
all  men,  but  that  no  individual  has  the  full  measure  of  truth  ;  in 
the  Gorgias,  that  it  is  better  to  suffer  than  to  commit  injustice ;  that 
it  is  useful  to  the  soul  to  be  chastised,  and  that  he  who  suffers 
punishment  is  delivered  from  the  evil  of  his  soul ;  in  the  Euthy- 
demus,  that  the  science  of  the  Sophists  is  empty  and  vain  ;  in  the 
second  Alcibiades,  that  it  is  better  to  be  ignorant  than  to  have  false 
knowledge ;  in  the  Theages,  that  the  only  true  wisdom  is  love ;  in 
the  Phsedrus,  that  it  is  love,  or,  as  Socrates  defines  it,  the  desire  of 
something  that  is  wanting,  which  gives  wings  to  the  soul,  and 
enables  it  to  mount  to  heaven ;  in  the  Meno,  that  virtue  is  the  gift 
of  God,  not  of  nature,  but  an  infusion  by  a  divine  influence ;  in  the 
Banquet,  that  love  leads  us  to  contemplate  the  supreme  beauty,  the 
universal  type,  the  Creator,  from  which  vision  we  derive  virtue  and 
immortality.  In  view  of  such  focal  beamings  at  the  heart  of  pagan 
night,  we  need  not  wonder  that  Thomas  of  Villanova  should  ex- 
claim with  enthusiasm,  "  Let  philosophers  know,  that  faith  is  not 
without  wisdom ;  the  evangehst  does  not  Platonize,  but  Plato 
evangelized." 

The  mythical  beings  of  Grecian  theology  display  in  their  beautiful 
but  ineffectual  imagery  the  first  efforts  of  cultivated  minds  to  com- 
municate with  nature  and  her  God.  They  resemble  the  flowers 
which  fancy  strewed  before  the  youthful  steps  of  Psyche  when  she 
first  set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  immortal  object  of  her  love.  The 
parable  of  the  Syrens  teems  with  valuable  moral  instruction.  They 
dwelt  in  fair  and  lovely  islands,  full  of  beauty,  and  through  whose 
leafy  alcoves  moved  a  perpetual  loveliness.  On  the  tops  of  tall 
rocks  sat  the  enchantresses,  pouring  their  tender  and  ravishing 
music  on  the  ears  of  passing  mortals,  till  they  turned  their  prows 
thitherward,  and  rushed  into  the  destruction  to  which  the  deceitful 
song  was  a  fatal  prelude.  Two  by  their  wisdom  and  piety  escaped. 
Ulysses  caused  his  arms  to  be  bound  to  the  mast,  and  the  ears  of 


RELIGION. 


115 


his  company  to  be  filled  with  wax,  with  special  orders  to  his  mari- 
ners that  they  should  not  loose  him  even  though  he  desired  it.  But 
Orpheus,  disdaining  to  be  so  bound,  with  sweet  melody  went  by, 
singing  praises  to  the  gods,  thus  outsounding  the  melody  of  the 
Syrens,  and  so  escaped. 

The  most  influential  teachers  among  the  Greeks  declared  the 
inutility  of  profuse  legislation,  and  taught  that  "  the  halls  should 
not  be  filled  with  legal  tablets,  but  the  soul  with  the  image  of 
righteousness."  They  sought  less  to  guard  the  citizen  by  force  and 
fear  than  to  fortify  him  with  a  sense  of  his  duty  and  its  dignity. 
Parental  authority  was  sustained  by  legislative  sanction,  as  well  as 
by  popular  customs,  and  even  up  to  the  first  steps  of  public  life  was 
constantly  guarded  by  the  elders ;  but  the  principal  intent  was  ever 
to  kindle  filial  esteem  into  the  potency  of  living  law,  to  illuminate 
progressive  youth  in  the  path  of  virtue  and  of  fame.  Sound 
morals  were  recognized  as  the  only  sure  foundation  of  republican 
freedom,  and  the  general  watchfulness  over  this  constituted  the 
spirit  of  ancient  religion,  and  the  origin  of  free  states.  To  such  an 
extent  did  parental  influence  and  pious  example,  rather  than  arbi- 
trary statutes  and  severe  punishments,  prevail  at  Athens,  that  the 
youth  generally  were  moral  and  temperate ;  despite  their  national 
inflammability,  the  most  authentic  records  affirm,  that  both  in 
domestic  and  public  life  they  remained  sober  and  moral,  until 
broken  down  by  the  interference  of  hostile  power.  Following  the 
defeat  of  Cheronea,  the  change  in  the  Greek  character  was  rapid. 
The  guiding  stars  of  literature  and  art  were  lost  in  clouds ;  and 
morals,  which  had  attained  a  splendid  maturity,  lost  both  strength 
and  hue. 

Sacred  ceremonies  at  Athens  were  the  most  luminous  that 
prevailed  in  Greece,  and  were  most  characteristic  of  the  city  of 
intelligence.  In  the  great  Panathenean  rites,  there  was  carried  in 
solemn  procession  to  the  Acropolis  a  symbolical  vessel  covered  with 
a  vail  upon  which  were  figured  the  triumph  of  Pallas  over  the 
Titans,  children  of  earth  who  undertook  to  scale  Olympus  and  de- 
throne Jove.  The  conflict  between  physical  and  moral  force  was 
therein  represented,  that  triumph  above  mere  natural  religion  which 
exists  in  mental  supremacy  and  the  civilization  of  law.  Moreover, 
Athenian  coins  preserve  to  us  allusions  to  impressive  rites  which 


116 


PERICLES. 


were  performed  three  times  a  year  in  honor  of  Vulcan  and  Prome- 
theus. The  votaries  assembled  at  night,  and  at  the  altar  of  the 
deity,  upon  which  a  fire  continually  burned,  at  a  given  signal  lighted 
a  torch  and  ran  with  the  blazing  symbol  to  the  city's  outer  bound. 
If  the  lights  of  some  became  extinguished,  the  more  fortunate  still 
pursued  with  greater  zeal,  and  he  was  most  honored  who  first 
reached  the  goal  with  his  torch  a-light.  But  the  religion  of  Greece 
was  not  characterized  by  ritual  splendor  only;  on  the  contrary, 
their  public  worship  was  marked  by  the  simplicity  of  devout  fervor, 
as  well  as  by  the  chasteness  of  fine  taste  and  that  unadorned 
solemnity  which  had  been  inherited  from  the  patriarchal  ages. 
They  were  much  less  inclined  to  pomp  and  finery  connected  with 
their  devotion,  than  are  the  moderns.  Rude  emblems  were  some- 
times borne  at  sacred  solemnities,  but  they  were  in  the  hands  of 
honorable  women,  and  all  ofiense  to  religious  feehng  was  arrested 
in  their  being  first  hallowed  by  the  dignity  of  the  festival. 

It  was  a  doctrine  of  immemorial  antiquity,  that  death  is  far  better 
than  life ;  that  the  worst  mortality  belongs  to  those  who  are 
immersed  in  the  Lethe  passions  and  fascinations  of  earth,  and  that 
the  true  life  begins  only  when  the  soul  is  emancipated  for  its  return. 
All  initiation  was  but  introductory  to  the  great  change  at  death. 
Many  regarded  water  as  the  source  and  purifier  of  all  things — eflS- 
cacious  to  renew  both  body  and  mind,  as  the  virginity  of  Juno  was 
restored  when  she  bathed  in  the  fountain  Parthenion.  Baptism, 
anointing,  embalming,  burying,  or  burning,  were  preparatory  sym- 
bols, like  the  initiation  of  Hercules  before  descending  to  the  shades, 
pointing  out  the  moral  change  which  should  precede  the  renewal 
of  existence.  The  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  Greeks  were  in  har- 
mony with  that  feeling  which  through  all  antiquity  paid  marked 
respect  to  the  dead,  whose  eyes  were  closed  by  relatives  most 
nearly  allied.  The  funeral  robe  was  often  woven  by  the  prospective 
piety  of  filial  hands,  as  the  web  of  Penelope  was  destined  to  shroud 
her  husband's  father.  The  body,  washed,  anointed,  and  swathed, 
was  placed  with  its  feet  toward  the  door,  and  as  the  train  of 
mourners  went  forth,  women  and  bards  raised  a  funeral  chant, 
interrupted  by  nearest  kindred,  who  eulogized  the  departed,  and 
bewailed  their  own  loss.  Reaching  the  pyre  of  wood,  the  corpse 
was  burned  and  the  ashes  collected  in  a  golden  vase.    While  the 


RELIGION. 


117 


body  lay  in  state,  the  chief  mourners  supported  the  head.  Dark 
garments,  and  long  abstinence  from  convivial  gatherings,  were  the 
outward  signs  of  sorrow.  The  excessive  grief  of  Achilles  showed 
itself  by  his  throwing  dust  on  his  head ;  torn  habiliments  and 
lacerated  cheeks  were  the  offerings  made  to  Agamemnon ;  and  a 
single  lock  of  hair  was  the  touching  tribute  to  his  memory  by  the 
filial  affection  of  Orestes.  The  lifeless  form  was  covered,  and 
crowned  with  flowers,  a  piece  of  money  placed  in  its  mouth,  as  a 
fee  to  Charon  for  being  ferried  over  the  Styx,  and  a  cake  of  honeyed 
flour  to  appease  Cerberus.  Bust,  statue,  and  mausoleum,  grassy 
mound,  inscribed  marble,  and  monumental  brass,  attested  the 
universal  desire  of  sepulchral  honors.  The  immortality  of  affec- 
tionate remembrances  and  of  public  renown  was  a  profound  aspi- 
ration in  their  breasts.  If  the  dead  were  ever  insulted,  it  was  the 
rare  instance  of  momentary  rage  toward  a  stubborn  foe,  and  soon 
gave  place  to  worthier  emotions.  Achilles  dragged  behind  his 
chariot  the  corpse  of  Hector  thrice  round-  the  tomb  of  his  beloved 
Patroclus ;  but,  after  the  first  burst  of  passion,  he  ordered  his  own 
slaves  to  wash  and  anoint  the  mutilated  remains,  himself  assisting 
to  raise  them  to  a  litter,  swathed  in  costly  garments,  that  the  eye 
of  a  broken-hearted  father  might  bear  the  sight. 

The  statesmen  of  Greece,  superior  as  they  were  in  universality 
of  accomplishment,  were  incomplete  personages  compared  with  the 
pure  theocratic  natures  of  antiquity,  of  whom  Moses  is  the  most 
familiar  and  accurate  type.  Many  of  them  were  not  only  priest 
and  magistrate,  but  also  philosopher,  artist,  engineer,  and  physician ; 
such  a  combination  for  intensity,  regularity,  and  permanence  of 
human  power,  never  was  found  elsewhere.  Pericles,  through  the 
whole  tenor  of  his  administration,  seemed  to  have  had  the  perma- 
nent welfare  of  his  fellow-countrymen  at  heart,  and  is  said  to  have 
boasted,  with  the  benevolence  of  a  true  patriot,  that  he  never  caused 
a  citizen  to  put  on  mourning. 

The  Greek  was  by  no  means  insensible  to  high  destinies,  as  he 
majestically  assumed  the  moral  dominion  on  earth  to  which  he  was 
born ;  but  he  formed  no  idea  of  future  happiness,  nor  of  intellect- 
ual dignity  vaster  than  his  own.  He  girded  himself  for  the  fearful 
contest  which  was  his  inheritance,  bravely  struggling  against  the 
terrible  powers  of  destiny  and  the  certainty  of  death.    Amazed  at 


118 


PERICLES. 


his  temerity,  the  sun  started  back  in  his  course ;  opposing  deities, 
wounded  by  his  spear,  fled  howHng  to  Olympus ;  and  the  dread 
abodes  of  Tartarus  yielded  up  the  departed  to  his  triumphant  call. 
Concentrating  in  the  present  the  intensity  of  immortal  aspirations, 
he  sought  to  link  them  forever  to  the  perishable  body.  Earthly  as 
was  his  spirit,  he  yet  supremely  coveted  eternal  life,  and  labored 
through  transcendent  genius  and  fortitude  to  unite  himself  imme- 
diately with  the  gods,  and  ultimately  soar  amid  the  splendid  hie- 
rarchy of  the  upper  skies. 

The  worship  of  Greece  was  the  Beautiful,  and  Athens  was  its  most 
magnificent  Shrine.  One  of  her  latest  and  fairest  altars  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  Unknown  God.  Would  that  the  phnth  of  artistic 
beauty  had  also  been  the  memento  of  spiritual  prayer.  Alas !  that 
after  all  the  fine  imaginings  and  glorious  achievements  of  the  won- 
drous Greeks,  we  must  still  feel  that  their  loftiest  conceptions  of 
divine  worship  were  really  as  void  of  true  consolation  as  the  empty 
urn  which  Electra  washed  with  her  tears. 


AUGUSTUS; 

OR, 

THE  A&E  OF  MARTIAL  FORCE. 


PROLOGUE  OF  MOfTOES. 


"  Thy  foot  will  not  stumble,  if  thou  ascribest  every  thing  good  and  noble 
to  Providence,  whether  it  takes  place  among  the  Greeks  or  ourselves,  for  God 
is  everywhere  the  author  of  all  that  is  good.  Some  things,  indeed,  originate 
imjnediately  with  Him,  as  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
others  again  mediately,  as  philosophy.  And  even  this,  he  appears  to  have 
imparted  immediately  to  the  Greeks,  until  they  were  called  by  the  Lord ;  for 
philosophy  led  the  Greeks  to  Christ,  as  the  law  did  the  Jews." — Clemens  of 
Alexandria. 

"  In  the  history  of  a  war,  we  speak  only  of  the  generals,  and  those  who 
performed  actions  of  distinction.  In  like  manner  the  battles  of  the  human 
mind,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  have  been  won  by  a  few  intellectual 
heroes.  The  history  of  the  development  of  art  and  i^s  various  forms  may  be 
therefore  exhibited  in  the  characteristic  view  of  a  number,  by  no  means  con- 
siderable, of  elevated  and  creative  minds." — Augustus  "William  Schlegel. 

"  These  individual  lives,  running  like  so  many  colored  threads,  through  our 
record,  may  impart  to  it  that  personal  interest  and  dramatic  unity  which 
otherwise  it  would  lack." — Doctor  Arnold. 

"I  saw  the  ram  pushing  westward,  and  northward,  and  southward;  so 
that  no  beasts  might  stand  before  him,  neither  was  there  any  that  could  de- 
liver out  of  his  hand ;  but  he  did  according  to  his  will,  and  became  great." — 
Daniel,  viii.  4. 


PART  SECOND. 


AUGUSTUS.  — AGE  OF  MARTIAL  FORCE. 


CHAPTER  I 

LITERATUKE. 

Civilization  in  Greece  was  beautiful,  in  Rome  invincible.  As 
this  latter  empire  spread,  it  invaded  savage  races  on  every  hand, 
and  gave  birth  to  a  new  world,  still  more  vast,  the  world  of  com- 
mercial progress,  stretching  along  the  Mediterranean  and  Baltic 
shores  into  the  unbounded  ocean  of  the  West.  While  Providence 
was  concentrating  its  conservative  forces  in  Alexander,  for  the  ex- 
ecution of  gracious  designs,  the  future  heiress  of  Greece  was  slum- 
bering in  her  cradle  on  the  Sicilian  and  Italian  coasts,  near  where 
the  new  centre  was  preparing,  which  was  to  draw  around  it  the 
barbarous  nations  of  earth.  That  the  graceful  progeny  of  Athene 
should  have  migrated  with  facility  from  the  serene  clime  of  their 
native  home  to  the  stormy  wilds  of  Etruscan  Rome  was  not  strange, 
since  naturalists  assert  that  birds  of  Paradise  fly  best  against  the 
wind ;  it  drifts  their  gorgeous  plumage  behind  them,  which  only 
impedes  when  before  the  gale. 

The  most  careful  consideration  of  ancient  history  leads  to  the 
belief  that  many  of  the  nations  which  flourished  in  Italy,  long 
before  the  Roman  empire  attained  its  height  of  power  and  splen- 
dor, were  distinguished  by  a  harmony  of  culture,  an  exuberance 
of  being,  a  diversity  of  manifestation,  and  originality  of  genius, 
which  Rome  in  her  best  days  never  exceeded.  They  each  con- 
tained an  important  element  of  civihzation,  but  only  in  an  incipient 
degree;  they  were  of  co-operative  capacity,  and  when  the  pre- 

6 


122 


AUGUSTUS. 


dominant  quality  of  the  new  cycle  arose  with  complete  develop- 
ment to  its  culminating  point,  martial  Rome  executed  the  most 
fulminating  and  comprehensive  of  primordial  missions.  Had  not 
Greece  preceded  them  with  the  humanizing  influences  of  the 
beautiful,  the  great  nation  would  have  been  nothing  but  a  remorse- 
less slayer  of  men,  furnishing  no  compensation  for  the  thralldom 
which  was  imposed  from  land  to  land  by  her  fiery  and  bloody  arms. 
The  former  caused  Beauty  to  dwell  as  a  divinity  in  the  midst  of 
men ;  the  latter  erected  the  god  of  war  as  the  national  deity,  and 
compelled  all  peoples  to  the  ignoble  worship. 

Rome  was  destined,  through  force,  to  show  the  world,  despite  the 
greatest  obstacles,  what  energetic  will,  unity,  earnestness,  and  per- 
tinacity  of  purpose,  could  do.  She  was  doubtless  superior  to  most 
nations  in  military  skill,  and  this  gave  her  great  advantage ;  but 
her  unique  peculiarity  consisted  in  the  fact,  that,  till  her  co-operative 
work  was  done,  she  never  despaired,  and  this  attribute  of  fortitude 
alone  conquered  the  world.  Ruin  as  often  threatened  the  Romans 
as  it  did  other  champions,  and  they  would  have  fallen  as  others  fell, 
had  not  internal  resources  increased,  and  heroical  resolution  been 
confiiTued,  in  proportion  as  outward  support  failed  them.  The 
spectacle  of  physical  force  which  they  presented  was  the  grandest 
of  earth ;  but  it  was  moral  force,  something  grander  still,  which  for- 
tified the  physical  force,  and  rendered  it  such  a  mighty  agent 
of  civilization.  War  has  numerous  advantages  which  are  overruled 
for  good,  and  the  misfortunes  of  some  nations  are  made  to  supply 
prosperity  to  others.  The  most  fruitful  fields  have  been  fertilized 
by  wholesale  carnage,  that  scourge  and  civilizer  of  mankind.  As 
the  sea  retires  in  one  quarter  at  the  same  time  it  advances  in  an- 
other, swallows  up  the  productiveness  of  this  shore  to  augment  the 
territory  and  richness  of  that,  so  do  great  natural  fluctuations 
transpire  under  the  control  of  that  sovereign  law  by  which  all 
things  are  changed  but  nothing  destroyed.  The  invasion  of  Persia 
was  virtually  the  creation  of  Greece,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  latter 
enriched  the  world.  When  the  fair  continent  had  fully  emerged 
from  the  flood  of  Pelasgic  barbarism,  afar  in  the  West,  on  Latian 
plains,  the  infant  state  of  Rome  was  obscurely  struggling  into 
power  against  the  neighboring  confederacies  in  which  the  old 
-Etruscan  culture  was  rapidly  sinking  into  decay.  While  the  gloomy 


LITERATURE. 


123 


wilds  of  Gaul  and  Germany  yet  lay  scarcely  known,  Gela,  in  the 
Greek  colony  at  Syracuse,  maintained  the  splendor  of  a  Grecian 
name,  and  by  a  single  defeat  in  Sicily  the  pride  of  Carthage  was 
subdued.  Nations,  like  individuals,  have  each  a  special  mission  on 
earth.  Many  are  either  co-operative  only  or  secondary,  and  but  a 
few  are  manifestly  primordial.  Thus  the  mission  of  Greece  was 
beauty,  that  of  Rome,  force.  In  those  special  spheres  they  mani- 
fested the  natural  attributes  of  humanity  in  a  fashion  and  to  a  de- 
gree never  before  reached  by  any  nation.  But  as  all  secondary 
nations  co-operated  to  execute  the  mission  given  to  each  great  prim- 
ordial power,  so  these  two  predominant  branches  of  the  Japhetic 
race  co-operated,  in  subordination  to  the  one  leading  purpose  of 
Providence,  to  perpetuate  progress  and  improve  mankind. 

The  rude  elements  of  the  Indo-European  stock  were  early  scat- 
tered from  Caucasus  to  the  Alpine  North.  The  Hellenic  family 
were  the  first  raised  to  a  high  degree  of  refinement,  and  they 
planted  their  offspring  even  to  the  extremity  of  the  Italian  penin- 
sula. When  other  kindred  branches,  like  the  Oscans  and  Sabines, 
superseded  these,  they  gave  a  composite  character  to  the  new  lan- 
guage thus  formed,  an  amalgamation  of  Attic  flexibility  with  Latin 
strength.  But  the  body  was  more  ponderous  than  the  soul ;  the 
plastic  property  so  prominent  in  the  Greek  tongue  was  lost  in  the 
harder  and  stiffer  enunciation  of  unpolished  Rome.  The  former, 
like  a  lucid  substance,  seemed  to  crystalHze  spontaneously  into  the 
most  beautiful  forms ;  but  the  latter,  like  granite,  could  be  rendered 
attractive  only  by  artificial  polish,  and  that  of  the  most  laborious 
kind.  It  was  the  language  of  solidity,  gravity,  and  energy ;  the 
fit  medium  for  expressing  the  dictum  of  imperial  might,  but  was 
not  adapted  to  convey  either  the  sentiments  of  love  or  the  products 
of  meditation.  The  great  orator,  in  his  defense  of  the  poet  Archias, 
informs  us  that  Greek  literature  was  read  by  almost  all  nations  of 
the  world,  while  Latin  was  still  confined  within  very  narrow  boun- 
daries. Such  was  the  wonderful  vitality  of  Greek  in  its  ancient 
form,  and  yet  it  lived  only  with  such  as  spoke  it  as  their  vernacular 
in  the  fatherland  or  its  provinces.  Like  all  true  and  original  crea- 
tions of  genius,  it  never  survived  the  fostering  care  of  devotees, 
but  sank  back  with  their  decay,  and  again  became  hmited  within 
the  boundaries  of  its  first  home.    In  the  end,  as  in  the  beginning, 


124 


AUGUSTUS, 


Athens  was  the  University  of  the  whole  classic  world.  On  the 
contrary,  Latin  was  propagated  chiefly  by  conquest,  absorbing  all 
barbarous  dialects  into  itself,  and,  like  the  dominion  of  its  masters^ 
becoming  the  stronger  the  further  west  it  was  spread.  Under  the 
auspices  of  the  Republic,  it  became  united  with  the  Celtic  and 
Iberian  in  Spain,  and  was  planted  by  Julius  Caesar  in  Britain, 
as  well  as  Gaul.  Greek  is  still  spoken  at  Athens;  but  Latin, 
when  it  had  been  engrafted  on  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  gave 
birth  to  all  modern  tongues,  became  again  grossly  barbauized 
and  died. 

By  what  route  the  progenitors  of  the  Oscans,  Sabines,  Itali,  and 
Umbrians  came  from  the  ori^nal  cradle  of  the  human  race,  is  not 
clearly  known.  They  were  evidently  kindred  to  the  Pelasgi  of  the 
Morea,  and  used  the  Phoenician  alphabet.  Their  dress  and  national 
symbol,  the  eagle,  were  Lydian,  and  their  theology,  like  the  more 
refined  system  of  the  Greeks,  was  derived  from  the  remotest  East. 
The  Romans  were  composite  from  the  first^  and  in  every  thing. 
The  septi-montium  upon  which  their  primitive  city  stood,  was  occu- 
pied by  different  tribes.  If  we  may  trust  mythical  tradition,  a 
Latin  tribe  had  their  settlement  on  mount  Palatine,  and  a  Sabine 
community  occupied  the  adjacent  Quirinal  and  Capitohne  heights- 
Mutual  jealousy  kept  them  a  long  time  separate,  but  at  length  the 
privilege  of  intermarriage  was  conceded,  and  the  different  tribes  ^ 
became  one  people.  The  Etruscans  were  of  purest  Pelasgian  ori- 
gin, and  for  a  long  period  possessed  the  greatest  civilizing  power  in 
the  West.  When  subdued  politically,  they  still  left  the  most  in- 
delible stamp  on  the  arts  and  fortunes  of  the  Roman  people.  These 
ethnical  afiinities  are  correlative  to  the  linguistic  affinities  of  th'e 
great  martial  cycle,  and  best  indicate  out  of  what  eleijients  its  lan- 
guage was  composed. 

The  ancient  Latin  alphabet  was  an  offshoot  from  primitive  Greeks 
and  evidently  came  from  the  same  source.  Its  later  departure  from 
the  original  current,  and  modifications  of  its  forms,  are  all  tracea- 
ble through  the  means  of  inscriptions  on  funereal  urns,  coins,  and 
historical  monuments.  The  alphabets  of  Gaul,  Germany,  Etruria, 
and  Spain,  were  formed  from  the  Greek ;  and  even  the  Latin  letters 
may  be  termed  the  universal  alphabet,  for  it  was  the  immediatei 
parent  of  all  the  present  Qiodes  of  writing.  But  this  mother-tongue 


LITERATURE. 


125 


did  not,  like  its  nobler  parent,  proceed  from  a  single  germ,  and 
gradually  unfold  by  a  natural  growth.  It  merged  in  the  bosom  of 
foreign  elements,  and  presented  great  and  striking  contrasts  in  its 
progress.  In  the  Republic  it  was  like  the  people,  high-minded,  and 
competent  for  the  debate  of  mighty  interests ;  under  regal  or  im- 
perial sway,  it  became  the  fitting  medium  of  an  extravagant  court, 
jeramped  and  debauched  by  foreign  manners.  At  the  epoch  of 
livius  Andronicus,  b.c.  240,  or  the  first  Punic  war,  the  language 
was  elicited  from  various  dialects,  and  consolidated  into  the  vernac- 
ular of  a  whole  people.  The  Oscan,  Sabine,  and  Etrurian,  or  Tus- 
can, were  the  leading  native  elements ;  but  the  primitive  Greek,  or 
Pelasgic,  was  early  blended  with  the  Latin,  greatly  enriching  it, 
and  imparting  to  it  the  chief  basis  of  its  forms.  From  the  first 
Punic  to  the  first  civil  war,  b.  c.  88,  was  a  period  of  marked  im- 
provement. Increased  intercourse  with  the  Greeks,  after  the  second 
Punic  war,  greatly  improved  their  native  literature,  aroused  and 
directed  all  their  energies  to  practical  life,  and  the  afiairs  of  state. 
Greek  models  were  held  up  to  the  enthusiasm  of  those  who  emu- 
lated at  first,  and  afterward  imitated,  the  masters  whom  they  could 
never  hope  to  excel.  Thus  the  language  of  the  Romans  did  not 
originate  in  the  rules  of  art,  but  in  the  free  outflowings  of  national 
character.  Hence,  Quintilian  compares  the  writings  of  Ennius  to 
an  ancient  sacred  grove  of  primeval  trees,  with  their  stately  trunks. 
Something  of  Greek  pliancy  was  imparted,  while  the  tongue  was 
becoming  harmonized,  by  the  translations  of  the  Odyssey  made  by 
Titus  Andronicus,  and  by  Nsevius  from  ^chylus  and  Euripides. 
The  progress  of  improvement  continued,  and  by  the  time  of  Augus- 
tus the  Roman  language  was  formed.  Then,  in  distinction  fi'om 
the  Latin,  or  provincial  speech,  it  was  said  to  be  "  the  refined  lan- 
guage of  the  city,  containing  nothing  which  could  oflend,  nothing 
which  could  displease,  nothing  which  could  be  repreheiided,  nothing 
of  foreign  sound  or  odor." 

„Mach  of  the  original  material  employed  in  early  Roman  litera- 
ture was  doubtless  furnished  by  the  subjugation  of  Etruria  to  her 
arms ;  but  gross  indigenous  elements  needed  to  be  quickened  into 
symmetrical  growth,  and  the  greater  conquest  of  Greece  itself  was 
alone  equal  to  that  miracle.  The  beautiful  captive  wound  her 
channs  around  the  barbarous  captor,  and  held  him  in  subjection  to 


126 


AUGUSTUS. 


11  vassalage  infiuitely  more  glorious  than  all  his  boasted  freedom 
and  universal  mastery  in  arms. 

How  wise  is  Providence !  The  south  of  Italy  had  for  many  cen- 
turies been  peopled  with  colonists  from  Greece,  who  retained  and 
cultivated  the  arts  and  literature  of  the  mother  country.  When 
suflScient  substance  had  been  collected  on  the  seven  rugged  hills,  to 
form  a  basis  of  national  literature,  Tarentum  was  subjugated,  and 
all  that  was  valuable  in  that  interesting  country  was  removed  to 
nourish  the  first  literary  pursuits  at  Rome.  Two  years  after  this 
arose  the  first  Punic  war,  the  result  of  which  was  the  conquest  of 
Sicily,  that  charming  land  whereon  the  flowers  of  Grecian  poesy 
had  blossomed  with  even  fairer  charms  than  on  the  neighboring 
continent.  When  we  come  to  consider  bucolic  poetry,  the  most 
healthful  and  original  growth  of  Roman  letters,  we  should  remem- 
ber that  this  was  the  spot  of  its  birth.  It  was  in  Sicily  that  the 
pastoral  and  comic  muses  prompted  Stersichorus  first  to  reduce 
lyrical  compositions  to  the  regular  division  of  strophe,  antistrophe, 
and  epode.  It  was  here  that  Empedocles  "  married  to  immortal 
verse  "  the  "  illustrious  discoveries  "  of  his  "  divine  mind."  Here 
Epicharmus  invented  comedy,  which  was  cultivated  by  Philemon, 
Apollodorus,  Carcinus,  Sophron,  and  various  others.  Tragedy  also 
found  successful  votaries  in  Empedocles,  Sosicles,  and  Achseus.  It 
was  in  Sicily,  too,  that  the  Mime  was  invented,  or,  at  least,  per- 
fected ;  Pindar,  JEschylus,  and  Simonides,  had  resided  at  the  court 
of  Hiero  I.,  and  Theognis  of  Megara,  committed  his  precepts  to 
elegiacs  in  Sicily.  The  Dionysii  also  were  authors,  as  well  as  pa- 
trons of  literary  men.  It  is,  moreover,  believed  that  when  the 
Romans  came  into  possession  of  Sicily,  Theocritus  was  yet  living. 
Many  of  the  most  creative  minds  in  the  conquered  provinces  now 
began  to  reside  at  Rome,  bringing  art  and  cultivation  with  them ; 
and  from  this  period  literature  in  the  metropolis  assumed  somewhat 
of  a  regular  and  connected  form. 

The  great  majority  of  the  citizens  undervalued  and  even  despised 
devotion  to  sedentary  and  contemplative  pursuits.  They  were  am- 
bitious, and  lived  for  conquest ;  but  it  was  the  extension  of  political 
domination  they  strove  for,  not  the  enlargement  of  literary  renown. 
The  old  Roman  was  charmed  hy  the  glory  of  his  country  abroad, 
and  the  wise  administration  of  her  constitution  at  home.  Military 


LITERATURE. 


127 


prowess  was  the  foundation  and  guarantee  of  both,  so  that  beyond 
politics  and  war  he  felt  little  concern.  He  was  susceptible  to  every- 
thing that  related  to  success  in  arms ;  but  exercises  of  a  purer  mental 
cast,  even  the  most  exciting,  such  as  tragedy,  never  captivated  the  feel- 
ings nor  acquired  an  influence  over  the  mass  of  the  people,  as  was 
universal  in  Greece.  Amid  the  dust  and  destruction  of  perpetual 
conflict,  learning  was  but  a  sickly  plant,  and  it  required  all  the 
artificial  heat  of  courtly  patronage  to  bring  any  thing  to  maturity. 
Accius  was  patronized  by  D.  Brutus ;  Ennius  by  Lucilius  and  the 
Scipios ;  Terence  by  Africanus  and  Laelius ;  Lucretius  by  the  Mem- 
mii ;  Tibullus  by  Messala ;  Propertius  by  ^lius  Gallus ;  Virgil  and 
his  friends  by  Augustus,  Maecenas,  and  Pollio ;  Martial  and  Quin- 
tihan  by  Domitian. 

But,  with  the  utmost  adventitious  aid,  Roman  hterature,  which 
never  appeared  greatly  to  deserve  the  epithet  national,  was  of  the 
rudest  and  most  meagre  description,  and  should  be  divided  into 
three  periods.  The  first  period  was  dramatic ;  the  second,  prosaic ; 
and  the  third,  rhetorical.  All  the  acting  tragedy  ever  produced  by 
Romans  was  limited  to  the  first  period ;  also  the  comedies  of  Plau- 
tus  and  Terence,  the  only  works  which  have  survived  to  claim 
admiration  in  modem  times.  It  was  the  era  of  life,  when  all  the 
vigorous  germs  of  after  growth  were  started.  Epic  poetry,  rugged 
and  monotonous  as  it  was,  yet  then  had  a  partial  development, 
simultaneously  with  the  first  composition  of  national  annals,  and 
the  foundation  of  accurate  and  thoughtful  jurisprudence.  It  was 
also  in  that  primary  period  that  C.  Gracchus  became  the  father  of 
Latin  prose ;  but  the  language  of  the  first  great  orator  of  western 
democracy  under  Italian  skies  was  yet  very  inferior  to  the  impas- 
sioned and  noble  sentiments  it  conveyed. 

The  second  period  was  that  of  special  refinement  in  prose,  and  of 
increased  erudition.  Csesar  and  Sallust  are  its  exponents  as  histo- 
rians, and  Cicero  is  its  chief  representative  as  an  orator  and  philoso- 
pher. In  a  word,  it  was  the  great  culmination  of  the  Augustan 
age,  wherein  Lucretius  and  Catullus  were  the  harbingers  of  Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Ovid,  and  the  varied  treasures  of  all  the  great  masters 
of  prose  and  learned  poetry  were  garnered  in  the  lucid  narrative  of 
Livy. 

As  the  first  period  was  redolent  of  life,  and  the  second  teemed 


128 


AUGUSTUS. 


with  learning,  so  the  third  is  known  by  its  excessive  embellishment. 
It  was  called  "  the  silver  age,"  and  was  covered  with  abundance  of 
filigree.  It  produced  the  only  fabulist  of  Rome,  Phcedrus ;  Juvenal, 
the  satirist ;  Martial,  the  epigrammatist ;  Tacitus,  the  historian ; 
Quintilian,  the  critic ;  and  the  elegant  letter-writer,  Pliny.  These 
are  the  best  names  of  the  later  period  of  the  Augustan  age,  and 
these  decisively  mark  the  progress  of  decline.  Fancifulness  and 
formalism  ruled  supreme,  and  whatever  of  independent  thought 
the  earlier  periods  had  known,  was  now  superseded  by  servility  and 
decay. 

The  Romans  inherited  no  legendary  stories  adapted  to  the  higher 
order  of  dramatic  composition.  The  early  traditions  which  formed 
the  groundwork  of  their  history  were  private,  and  not  pubHc, 
property — the  pedigrees  and  memorials  of  separate  families,  and 
therefore  not  interesting  to  the  people  at  large.  There  were  no 
Attic  Eumolpidae  on  the  seven  hills  to  preserve  antique  remin- 
iscences as  a  national  treasure,  nor  did  they,  like  fragrant  plants, 
twine  themselves  along  the  rocky  base  of  the  Roman  capitol,  as 
the  thrilling  traditions  of  ancestral  Greece  did  round  the  chaste 
altars  of  that  susceptible  people.  The  Latin  poets  might  some- 
'  times  collect  withered  fictions,  and  weave  them  into  their  rhythmical 
records  of  antiquity ;  but  they  possessed  no  vital  beauty,  no  talis- 
manic  power  for  awakening  national  enthusiasm.  Indeed,  who 
could  heartily  enjoy  allusions  to  the  past,  since  old  Rome  had  been 
superseded  by  a  new  race.  The  few  veterans  who  yet  survived  the 
bloody  wars  of  Greece,  Africa,  Gaul,  and  Spain,  were  settled  in 
remote  military  colonies,  and  a  careless  disregard  of  every  tbing  in 
the  metropolis,  except  luxurious  sustenance  and  shows,  paved  the 
way  for  a  speedy  downfall.  Rome  was  peopled  with  step-sons  only, 
as  Scipio  JEmilius  designated  the  populace,  and  the  tragedy  most 
genial  to  their  taste  and  ambition  was  that  which  was  most  replete 
with  fulsome  compliments  to  favorite  individuals.  In  Greece,  the 
poet  was  deemed  an  inspired  being,  and  his  tongue  was  regarded  as 
the  divinest  medium  for  the  communion  of  the  visible  with  the 
invisible;  but  at  Rome,  poetry  was  nothing  more  than  a  dull 
recreation,  and  its  author  was  no  better  than  a  parasite  or  a  slave. 
At  Athens,  the  impersonation  of  a  tragedy  was  an  act  of  worship ; 
the  theatre  was  a  temple,  and  the  altar  of  a  deity  was  its  central, 


LITERATUEE. 


129 


point.  With  the  Romans,  the  thymele  existed  no  longer  as  a 
memorial  of  sacred  sacrifice,  and  the  stage  deteriorated  into  the 
mere  arena  of  disgusting  amusement.  Pliny,  in  his  history,  and 
Cicero,  in  eloquent  regrets,  have  told  us  how  the  bloody  combats 
of  gladiators,  the  miserable  captives  and  malefactors  stretched  on 
crosses,  expiring  in  excruciating  agonies,  or  mangled  by  wild  beasts, 
were  the  real  tragedies  coveted  by  the  people.  The  sham-fights 
and  Naumachiae,  though  only  imitations,  were  real  dramas,  in  which 
those  pursuits  which  most  deeply  interested  the  spectators,  and  which 
constituted  their  highest  glories,  were  visibly  represented.  Gorgeous 
spectacles  fed  personal  vanity  in  their  national  greatness.  The  spoil 
of  conquered  nations,  borne  in  procession  across  the  stage,  reminded 
them  of  their  triumphs  and  their  victories.  The  magnificent  cos- 
tumes of  the  actors  who  attended  the  model  of  some  captured  city, 
preceded  and  followed  by  artistic  spoils,  represented  in  mimic 
grandeur  the  ovation  of  a  successful  warrior,  whose  return  from  a 
distant  expedition,  laden  with  plunder,  realized  the  highest  aspira- 
tions of  Rome ;  whilst  corresponding  scenery,  glittering  with  glass, 
silver,  and  gold,  intermingled  and  sustained  by  variegated  pillars  of 
foreign  marbles,  told  ostentatiously  of  their  mental  extravagance 
and  material  wealth.  To  such  a  people  there  was  neither  attraction 
nor  profit  in  the  moral  woes  of  tragedy,  and  one  could  not  expect 
that  a  legitimate  drama  under  such  circumstances  would  be  national. 
Hence,  in  the  popular  eye,  the  scenic  decorations  and  theatrical 
dresses  became  the  chief  objects  of  regard,  while  the  poet's  oflSce 
was  entirely  subordinate,  and  plays  became  as  devoid  of  intellect  as 
they  were  debasing  to  taste. 

In  reviewing  with  more  detail  the  three  periods  of  dramatic  prog- 
ress at  Rome,  such  as  it  was,  we  have  to  consider  the  origin  and 
character  of  their  comedy.  The  Greek  works  of  Menander,  Diphilus, 
and  Apollodorus,  formed  a  rich  store  of  materials  for  Roman  adop- 
tion, and  were  so  employed  with  as  much  success  as  Plautus, 
Caeilius  Statins,  and  Terence  could  command.  Their  standard  was 
worldly  prudence,  resting  on  the  dangerous  ground  of  Epicurean 
philosophy;  and  therefore  Roman  comedy  inculcated  no  virtue 
even  so  salutary  as  Stoicism,  though  it  sometimes  encouraged  the 
benevolent  affections.  Creative  imagination  was  a  rare  quality  in 
the  Roman  mind ;  therefore,  literature  with  them  was  not  of  a 

6* 


130 


AUGUSTUS. 


spontaneous  growth.  For  a  short  period,  it  was  the  recreation  of  a 
few ;  but  with  the  many  it  was  never  a  valued  dehght.  Even 
Cicero,  the  truest  hterary  spirit  of  his  nation,  could  recognize  but 
one  end  and  object  in  all  study,  namely,  those  sciences  which 
render  a  man  useful  to  his  country.  External  utility  and  not 
internal  impulse,  was  the  final  cause  of  Roman  literature.  In  pre- 
ceding nations  poetiy  was  the  original  and  spontaneous  production ; 
but  the  earliest  literary  effort  of  the  Romans  was  history,  a  dry 
record  of  facts,  and  not  ideas.  The  first  poetical  form  ever 
attempted  by  them  was  satire,  and  it  is  characteristic  of  the  rude 
and  coarse  people  among  whom  it  had  its  origin.  They  loved  strife, 
both  physical  and  mental ;  with  them  was  found  little  or  no  salutary 
intellectual  exercise,  except  in  legal  conflicts  and  partisan  debates. 
They  were  gladiators  in  the  forum,  as  in  the  circus,  and  with  rustic 
taste  took  equal  delight  in  bandying  sarcastic  words  or  struggling 
in  a  wresthng  match.  The  Romans  were  a  stem,  not  an  aesthetic 
people ;  they  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  satire,  and  that  was  the 
only  literary  merit  they  possessed.  Yet  even  in  this  department, 
as  Horace  confessed,  Lucilius,  the  founder  of  Roman  satire,  was  a 
disciple  of  the  Greek  Eupolis,  Cratinus,  and  Aristophanes.  But 
the  cynical  humor  and  prompt  extemporaneous  gibe  native  to  the 
progeny  of  a  she-wolf  eminently  qualified  them  to  excel  in  a  walk 
wherein  they  were  certainly  most  at  home. 

Livius  Andronicus,  the  first  literary  character  at  Rome,  was  a 
native  of  the  Greek  colony  at  Tarentum,  born  b.  c.  240,  and  ori- 
ginally a  slave.  He  probably  came  into  that  condition  by  the  for- 
tunes of  war,  and,  like  many  others  in  the  same  circumstances,  was 
employed  as  a  tutor  in  the  metropolis.  To  interest  his  cotempora- 
ries  in  the  ancient  legends  of  Italy,  he  translated  the  Odyssey,  in 
the  old  Saturnian  measure,  and  also  divers  ancient  hymns.  By 
this  means,  the  conquerors  of  the  day  were  made  to  take  a  lively 
interest  in  Circe's  fairy  abode,  within  sight  of  a  promontory  of 
Latium,  one  of  whose  sons  was  Latinus,  the  patriarch  of  the  Latin 
name. 

Naevius,  if  not  actually  born  at  Rome,  was  from  the  earliest  boy- 
hood a  resident  in  the  capital,  and  was  the  first  poet  of  real  national 
worth.  Like  most  subsequent  writers,  he  was  a  servile  imitator, 
but  attained  more  than  ordinary  success  in  applying  Greek  taste  to 


LITEB  ATURE. 


131 


the  development  of  Roman  character.  A  bold  republican  and 
brave  soldier,  lie  breathed  a  martial  enthusiasm  into  his  poems, 
which  in  no  slight  measure  aided  the  battles  of  his  country  in  the 
first  Punic  war.  The  upright  and  inflexible  Cato  was  his  fast  and 
enduring  friend. 

Plautus,  unlike  his  two  famous  successors,  had  no  patron  but  the 
public.  Perhaps  the  Scipios  and  Laelii,  and  their  fastidious  asso- 
ciates, could  not  endure  his  broad  humor  and  groveling  inuendos. 
But  his  coarse  fun  and  audacious  action  held  the  not  over-critical 
ears  of  the  undistinguished  mass,  whom,  Horace  says,  he  hurried 
on  from  scene  to  scene,  from  incident  to  incident,  from  jest  to  jest, 
so  that  they  had  no  opportunity  of  feeling  fatigue.  Another  cause 
(of  his  popularity  was,  that  although  Greek  was  the  fountain  whence 
he  drew  his  stores,  his  wit,  mode  of  thought,  and  language,  were 
veritably  Roman  ;  his  style  was  not  only  his  own,  and  Latin  in  fact, 
but  Latin  of  the  most  effective  kind. 

P.  Terentius  Afer,  born  b.  c.  195,  was  a  slave  in  the  family  of 
P^  Terentius  Lucanus,  a  Roman  senator.  It  was  customary  to  dis- 
tinguish slaves  by  an  ethical  name,  and  thus  Afer  points  to  an 
African  origin.  Whether  he  was  a  native  of  Carthage  is  uncer- 
tain, but  he  doubtless  came  into  Roman  hands  through  the  Car- 
thagenian  slave-market,  and  was  destined  to  achieve  a  high 
renown.  Under  Lucanus  he  acquired  a  refined  and  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue,  and,  it  is  probable,  also,  soon 
obtained  his  freedom.  A  beautiful  story  is  recorded  of  his  original 
success.  Having  offered  his  first  dramatic  sketch  for  acceptance  to 
the  Curule  JEdiles,  they  referred  him  to  the  critical  judgment  oi 
Csecilius  Statins,  then  at  the  height  of  his  popularity.  Terence, 
according  to  the  record,  in  humble  garb  was  introduced  to  the 
poet  whilst  he  was  at  supper,  and,  seated  on  ^  low  stool  near  the 
coUch  on  which  Csecilius  was  reclining,  he  commenced  reading. 
He  had  finished  but  a  few  lines  when  he  was  invited  to  sit  by  his 
crftic  and  sup  with  him.  Before  the  reading  was  ended  he  had 
won  the  unqualified  admiration  of  his  hearer.  The  result  was  that 
Terence  was  immediately  sought  for  by  the  distinguished,  and  be- 
eamo  a  favorite  guest  and  companion  with  those  who  could  appre- 
ciate his  powers.  The  great  Roman  nobility,  such  as  the  Scipiones, 
the  Laelii,  the  Scavolae,  and  the  Metelli,  had  some  taste  for  litera- 


132 


AUGUSTUS. 


ture  ;  and,  like  the  Tyranni  of  Sicily  in  later  ages,  were  accustomed 
to  assemble  around  tliem  circles  of  the  refined,  of  whom  the  hospi- 
table host  was  proud  to  be  recognized  as  the  nucleus  and  centre. 
If  Terence  was  inferior  to  Plautus  in  vivacity  and  intrigue,  as  well 
as  in  the  powerful  delineation  of  national  character,  he  was  superior 
in  elegance  of  language  and  purity  of  taste.  He  was  the  first  to 
substitute  delicacy  of  sentiment  for  vulgarity,  and  knew  how  to 
touch  the  heart  as  well  as  gratify  the  intellect. 

Cjecilius  Statins,  the  venerable  and  auspicious  friend  of  Terence, 
referred  to  above,  was  himself  an  emancipated  slave,  bom  at  Milan, 
and  who  rose  to  the  head  of  comic  poetry  at  Rome.  Greece  was 
the  ordinary  fountain  to  him,  as  to  others ;  but  he  excelled  most 
of  his  fellow-imitators  in  dignity,  pathos,  and  the  conduct  of  his 
plot.  In  the  estimation  of  Cicero,  Statins  excelled  in  comedy,  as 
Ennius  did  in  epic  poetry,  and  Pacuvius  in  tragedy. 

Roman  comedy  possessed  some  claims  to  originality,  though  to 
no  exalted  degree ;  but  Roman  tragedy  was  derived  from  Athens 
almost  entire,  and  had  not  the  merit  of  either  literal  translation  or 
clever  imitation.  Ennius,  born  b.  c.  239,  was  the  transition  link 
between  the  old  school  and  the  new.  Originating  in  the  wild  and 
mountainous  Calabria,  he  began  life  in  a  military  career,  and  rose 
to  the  rank  of  a  centurion.  It  is  said  that  Cato,  in  his  voyage 
from  Afiica  to  Rome,  visited  Sardinia,  and  finding  Ennius  in  that 
island,  took  him  home  with  him.  He  enjoyed  the  esteem  of  the 
leading  literary  societies  at  Rome  ;  and  at  his  death,  when  seventy 
years  old,  he  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  the  Scipios,  at  the  request 
of  the  great  conqueror  of  Hannibal,  whose  fame,  embalmed  in  his 
verse,  he  transmitted  to  posterity.  It  indicates  the  progressive 
condition  of  literature  in  the  metropolis,  that  Ennius,  who  was  evi- 
dently a  gentleman,  was  the  first  writer  of  the  time  who  achieved 
for  himself  the  enviable  privileges  of  a  citizen,  to  which  Livius  had 
not  aspired,  and  Nsevius,  the  freedman,  could  never  attain.  Enjoy- 
ing the  friendship  of  Cato  the  Censor,  and  Scipio  Africanus  the 
elder,  when  aristocratic  wealth  was  beginning  to  be  greatly  revered, 
the  republican  poet,  cleaving  to  his  lowly  hut  on  the  Aventine,  still 
lived  the  life  of  the  Cincinnati,  the  Curii,  and  the  Fabricii  of  the 
good  old  heroic  times. 

Under  the  auspices  of  Pacuvius,  and  simultaneously  with  the 


LITERATURE. 


133 


best  comedy,  tragedy  reached  the  highest  degree  of  excellence. 
He  was  born  at  Brundiisium,  b.  c.  220,  and  was  nearly  related  to 
the  poet  Ennius.  Pacuvius  resided  at  Rome  till  after  his  eightieth 
year,  and  formed  one  of  that  hterary  circle  of  which  Lselius  was 
the  chief  ornament.  In  the  evening  of  life  he  retired  to  Tarentum, 
where  he  died  ninety  years  old.  His  tragedies  were  chiefly  adapt- 
ations of  Greek  originals  to  the  Roman  stage  ;  the  plots  being 
entirely  borrowed,  but  the  treatment  and  language  were  his  own. 

Attius  was  born  b.  c.  lYO,  and  became  somewhat  distinguished 
while  his  senior  and  master,  Pacuvius,  was  yet  alive.  They  met  on 
friendly  terms  to  discuss  the  young  rival's  tragedy  of  "  Atreus." 
Pacuvius  commended  its  good  points,  but  declared  it  to  be  some- 
what harsh  and  hard.  "You  are  right,"  repHed  Attius,  "but  I 
hope  to  improve.  Fruits  which  are  at  first  hard  and  sour,  become 
soft  and  mellow,  but  those  which  begin  by  being  soft,  end  in  being 
rotten."  Another  fact  equally  significant  of  his  conscious  dignity 
is  given  by  Valerius  Maximus,  who  relates  that  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  poets,  he  refused  to  rise  at  the  entrance  of  Julius  Caesar,  be- 
cause he  felt  that  in  the  republic  of  letters  he  was  his  superior. 
The  statement  is  plausible,  as  the  great  hero  was  then  in  his  youth. 
The  political  state  of  the  people  was  now  rapidly  growing  worse, 
and  real  tragedies  were  being  so  violently  acted  that  there  was 
little  room  in  the  popular  heart  for  fictitious  woes.  The  sanguin- 
ary influence  of  the  amphitheatre  seemed  to  have  brutalized  the 
entire  nation,  the  vast  area  of  which  was  one  theatre  of  dreadful 
tragic  scenes.  Amidst  these,  the  voice  of  the  dramatic  muse  was 
hushed.  Native  authors  then  had  no  literary  quarries  of  their 
own  to  work  into  original  shapes,  but  they  could  build  up  splendid 
edifices  with  materials  derived  from  polished  and  prolific  Greece. 
The  existence  of  tragedy  was  not  long  at  Rome ;  the  dramatic 
spirit,  as  a  mental  excellence,  never  belonged  to  that  people,  and 
with  Attius,  even  its  form  disappeared. 

The  history  of  literature  among  the  Romans  is  without  a  parallel. 
So  prosaic  and  practical  were  the  people,  that  they  remained  five 
centuries  without  an  eminent  poet.  Even  when  the  dazzling  glories 
of  the  Grecian  muse  fell  upon  them  it  was  only  the  art  of  imitation 
that  they  cultivated.  True  inspiration  was  foreign  to  their  cast  of 
inind.    The  most  original  of  their  writers  entertained  no  higher 


1S4 


AUGUSTUS. 


idea  of  originality  than  to  make  it  consist  in  the  importation  of  a 
new  form  from  Greece ;  and,  on  the  ground  of  his  own  practice, 
affected  to  despise  those  who  copied  for  the  second  or  third  time. 
Indeed,  the  word  imitation  was  applied  only  to  Latin  authors,  it 
being  understood  that  borrowing  from  the  Greeks,  or  conforming 
to  them,  implied  their  chief  excellence.  Unkindled  by  the  Grecian 
torch,  Roman  intellect  was  inert ;  and  unillumined  by  its  formative 
power,  their  productions  were  both  uncouth  and  void  of  enduring 
worth. 

The  Mimi  were  the  most  indigenous  to  the  Roman  mind,  and 
have  left  their  traces  in  the  modern  buffoonery  of  Pulcinello  and 
Harlequin.  It  is  believed  that  the  Romans  owed  their  first  idea 
of  dramatic  composition  to  the  Etrurians,  and  the  effusions  of  a 
sportive  humor  to  the  Oscians ;  but  all  matured  productions,  of  a 
higher  order,  came  from  the  Greeks.  Curtius,  sacrificing  every 
personal  inclination  to  an  absorbing  love  of  country,  was  a  truer 
exemplification  of  their  national  spirit,  than  any  thing  they  achieved 
in  elegant  letters  or  art.  They  always  betrayed  that  their  first 
founder  was  not  suckled  at  the  breast  of  gentle  humanity,  but  of  a 
ferocious  beast.  Schlegel  has  well  said  of  them,  "  They  were  the 
tragedians  of  the  history  of  the  world,  who  exhibited  many  a  deep 
tragedy  of  kings  led  in  chains,  and  pining  in  dungeons ;  they  were 
the  iron  necessity  of  other  nations;  universal  destroyers  for  the 
sake  of  rearing  at  last  from  the  ruins,  the  mausoleum  of  their  own 
dignity  and  freedom,  in  the  midst  of  an  obsequious  world,  reduced 
to  one  dull  uniformity." 

The  style  in  which  the  Roman  theatres  were  built,  and  the  means 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  superficial  excitement,  indicate  that 
whatever  dramatic  taste  the  people  may  have  once  possessed,  it 
had  come  to  be  greatly  decayed.  The  edifice  erected  by  Pompey 
was  so  huge  that  forty  thousand  spectators  could  be  seated  at  once, 
and  must  have  depended  upon  something  else  than  the  human 
voice  to  instruct  or  please.  The  relation  which  Pliny  gives  of  the 
architectural  decoration  of  the  stage  erected  by  Scaurus  seems 
incredible.  When  magnificence  could  be  carried  no  further,  they 
endeavored  to  surprise  by  mechanical  inventions;  two  theatres, 
placed  on  pivots,  back  to  back,  were  so  made  that  they  could  be 
wheeled  round  and  form  one  vast  amphitlieatre,  thus  sinking 


LITERATURE. 


135 


legitimate  tragedy  into  the  lowest  clap-trap  of  melo-dramatio 
sliow. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  people  filled  with  such  an  un- 
bounded lust  for  dominion  would  excel  in  the  more  delicate  walks 
of  literature  and  art.  But  the  unscrupulous  desire  of  the  Romans 
to  extend  the  power  and  glory  of  the  Republic  was  compatible  with 
vigorous  statesmanship,  and  all  the  kindred  subjects  requisite  to 
the  advancement  of  social  science.  Their  mother  tongue  was  the 
language  of  command,  and  proficients  therein  could  much  easier 
produce  works  in  prose,  since  these  would  arise  from  a  practical 
view  to  utility  only,  and  would  require  a  treatment  characterized 
by  science  rather  than  by  art.  But,  as  in  poetry,  so  in  prose,  the 
Romans  were  perpetually  imitative  ;  they  frequently  showed  talent, 
but  rarely  genius,  and  aimed  at  erudition,  not  invention.  Those 
who  first  devoted  themselves  to  historical  research,  were  also  emi- 
nent in  the  public  service.  Fabius  Pictor  belonged  to  an  eminent 
patrician  family,  and  Cincius  Alimentus  was  of  honorable  birth. 
Such  were  Roman  historians  until  the  time  of  Sulla,  whose  cotem- 
porary,  L.  Otacilius  Pititus,  was  the  first  freedman  who  began  to 
write  history.  The  primary  efforts  of  these  authors  and  their  asso- 
ciates were  devoted  to  the  transfer  of  poetical  records  into  prose, 
the  more  appropriate  vehicle  of  national  annals. 

M.  Porcius  Cato  Censorius  was  born  at  Tusculum,  b.c.  234.  He 
displayed  uncommon  versatility  of  talent,  and  attained  a  place 
among  the  first  orators,  jurists,  economists,  and  historians,  of  his 
day.  Plautus  and  Terence  were  his  cotemporaries.  Cato  enjoyed 
the  advantage  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Polybius,  the  Greek 
historian,  and  the  philosophers,  Carneades,  Critolaus,  and  Diogenes, 
who  were  compelled  from  Athens  to  lecture  at  Rome.  At  the 
same  time  Crates  arrived  from  Pergamus,  and  the  taste  for  Greek 
literature  was  so  quickened,  that  the  venerable  prejudice  against  it 
in  Cato  was  overcome,  and  very  late  in  his  life  he  sat  down  to 
learn  the  language  of  a  people  whom  he  had  hated  and  despised. 
Early  in  life  he  became  a  soldier,  served  in  the  Hannibalian  war,  was 
under  Fabius  Maximus,  both  in  Campania  and  Tarentum,  and  did 
the  state  some  service  in  the  decisive  battle  of  the  Metaurus. 
Stern  in  integrity,  and  rural  in  taste,  like  Carius  Dentatus,  and 
Quintius  Cincinnatus,  between  his  campaigns  he  employed  himself 


136 


AUGUSTUS. 


in  agricultural  pursuits,  on  his  Sabine  farm.  Valerius  Flaccus  in- 
vited him  to  his  town-house  at  Rome,  where  the  rustic  pleader 
almost  immediately  became  famous  in  the  highest  courts,  and  was 
soon  sent  to  govern  the  province  of  Spain.  This  office  was  happily- 
fitted  to  his  talents,  and  on  that  western  field  he  reaped  the  richest 
harvest  of  fame.  The  inherent  love  of  truth  and  justice  in  Cato 
made  him  detest  every  demand  for  respect  that  did  not  rest  on  per- 
sonal merit.  Adventitious  rank  he  despised,  and  was  an  unrelent- 
ing foe  to  aristocracy,  as  being  arbitrary,  conventional,  and  oppres- 
sive. The  most  amiable  trait  in  his  character  was  a  burning 
indignation  against  wrong.  He  was  self-educated,  and  perfectly 
original  in  character  and  genius.  His  learning  was  immense,  but 
all  his  opinions  were  his  own.  Despite  the  imperfections  of  Cato, 
he  was,  intellectually  and  morally,  the  greatest  man  pagan  Rome 
produced.  Several  inferior  historians  succeeded,  but  none  worthy 
of  note,  previous  to  the  revival-period  of  Cicero. 

Polybius  was  carried  captive  to  Rome,  where  he  wrote  his  his- 
tory in  the  language  of  his  fallen  country ;  and,  when  his  learned 
co-patriots  were  permitted  to  return,  he  remained  in  Rome,  greatly 
respected,  and  became  both  friend  and  adviser  to  the  younger 
Scipio.  The  histories  of  Lucius  Lucullus,  Aulus  Albinus,  and 
Scipio  Africanus,  designed  especially  for  the  educated  classes,  were 
written  in  Greek.  The  earliest  improvements  in  Latin  were  made 
by  the  epic  and  dramatic  poets.  At  a  later  period,  statesmen  and 
orators  exerted  a  strong  popular  influence  in  regard  to  prose  com- 
position, and  thus  the  common  people  were  gradually  fortified  with 
earnestness  and  practical  intelHgence. 

Gains  Julius  Caesar  was  born  b.  c.  101,  and  was  a  voluminous 
writer,  as  well  as  unequaled  soldier.  A  strong  man  will  stamp  his 
individuality  on  his  pages,  as  well  as  exhibit  it  in  his  acts.  Such 
was  the  case  with  C«esar,  the  first  Roman  whose  expressions  were 
well  balanced  and  full  of  literary  force.  His  composition  at  night 
was  the  fitting  counterpart  of  his  conduct  by  day.  Whether  he 
wielded  the  baton  of  supreme  command  on  the  battle-field,  or 
quietly  inscribed  its  history  while  the  wounds  of  thousands  were 
yet  bleeding,  his  sword  and  pen  alike  went  directly  to  the  end 
desired,  and  triumph  crowned  every  literary  as  well  as  martial 
attempt.    He  was  said  to  know  every  man  in  his  aimy  by  name, 


LITERATURE. 


137 


and  he  appears  to  have  had  an  equally  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  language  in  which  he  wrote.  Every  word,  like  a  mailed  soldier, 
was  made  to  occupy  its  appropriate  place,  and  his  brief  sentences 
stood  in  serrated  strength,  doing  the  most  efficient  service  with 
least  waste  of  time  and  space.  Nothing  could  be  subtracted  from 
his  brevity,  or  substituted  for  his  chosen  elements  and  positions  of 
might.  Xenophon,  several  of  Alexander's  generals,  and  Hannibal 
himself,  also  wrote  annals  of  their  own  achievements  ;  but  the  great 
Roman  alone  was  the  superlative  martial  writer,  as  he  was  the  un- 
conquered  champion  in  war.  The  history  of  campaigns  was  a 
department  of  composition  in  which  the  genius  of  that  people  was 
best  adapted  to  shine,  and  the  boldest  of  their  conquerors  was  also 
the  brightest  exponent  of  their  national  spirit. 

Caius  Crispus  Sallustius,  born  fifteen  years  later  than  the  great 
writer  just  noticed,  and  much  inferior  to  him  in  harmony  of 
arrangement  and  clearness  of  expression,  yet  had  few  equals  among 
his  countrymen  as  a  writer.  The  beautiful  historians  of  Greece 
were  more  easily  copied  than  any  other  department  of  their  letters, 
and  this  enabled  the  Romans  to  produce  clever  imitations.  Thucy- 
dides  was  the  model  followed  by  Sallust,  whose  servility  crippled 
the  modicum  of  genius  he  oiiginally  possessed. 

Titus  Livius  was  born  b.  c.  1 7,  at  Padua,  and  removed  to  Rome, 
where  he  enjoyed  the  protection  and  regard  of  Augustus.  The 
gross  materialism  of  Epicurus  was  most  genial  to  the  national  sense, 
and  received  at  their  hands  a  general  adoption.  The  same  gloomy 
impress  lies  upon  the  pages  of  Livy,  and  we  close  his  work  with 
the  feeHng  that  we  have  been  conducted  through  "  a  stately  gallery 
of  gay  and  tragic  pictures."  Battles  and  triumphs  are  delineated 
with  circumstantial  vividness  ;  but  httle  light  is  thrown  upon  the 
constitution  of  the  immortal  mind,  nor  is  the  information  thus  com- 
municated conducive  to  healthful  order  or  energy. 

Gains  Cornelius  Tacitus  was  born  a.  d.  67,  forty-three  years  after 
the  death  of  Augustus.  His  father  is  supposed  to  have  been  of  the 
equestrian  order,  and  Procurator  of  Belgian  Gaul.  Better  auspices 
dawned  when  Trajan,  the  last  of  efficient  Caesars,  ascended  the 
throne,  and  like  the  sudden  beauty  which  sometimes  adorns  the 
close  of  a  lowering  day,  rivalled  the  greatness  of  old  Rome.  As  his 
fitting  co-operative  in  concluding  the  historic  cycle  of  the  Augustan 


188 


AUGUSTUS. 


age,  Tacitus,  educated  under  Vespasian  and  Titus,  and  who  had 
learned  to  analyze  his  race  under  Domitian  and  Nerva,  arose  with 
Trajan  to  enjoy  the  last  bright  hour  of  his  nation,  and  to  portray 
the  dreadfulness  of  the  coming  night.  The  depth  of  his  spirit,  and 
pungency  of  his  expressions,  are  the  last  and  best  exponents  of 
Augustan  prose  literature.  What  began  with  Caesar  in  simple 
majesty,  and  was  continued  by  Livy  under  the  attractions  of 
rhetorical  extravagance,  was  by  Tacitus  garnered  and  uttered  in  the 
final  expression  of  invincible  victory  and  disdain.  The  historian  of 
despotic  cruelty  threw  the  links  of  the  world's  fetters  along  the  iron 
pages  of  his  masterly  Annals,  while  the  shadows  of  Teutonic  gran- 
deur seem  already  gathering  over  his  sad  visage  as  he  writes. 

Suetonius  and  Cornelius  Nepos  need  only  be  named  in  this 
connection,  while  we  pass  to  a  more  particular  mention  of  Plutarchus 
of  Chaeronea.  He  was,  probably,  a  few  years  senior  to  Tacitus,  and 
also  wrote  under  the  reign  of  Trajan.  Plutarch  is  the  representa- 
tive of  popular  biography;  he  stands  between  the  historian,  the 
poet,  and  the  romancer,  to  catch  the  beautiful  lights  of  all.  His 
account  of  Theseus  resembles  a  legend  from  an  old  chronicle,  or  a 
chapter  of  magic ;  memoirs  as  depicted  by  his  hand  are  exceedingly 
picturesque,  in  the  presence  of  which  reading  becomes  sight,  as 
some  vivid  touch  lights  up  the  centre  and  animates  the  whole. 
For  instance,  the  white  charger  of  Sylla,  lashed  by  a  servant  who 
saw  his  danger,  carries  the  rider  with  a  plunge  between  two  falling 
spears.  Again,  Pyrrhus,  wounded  and  faint,  suddenly  opens  his 
eyes  on  Zopyrus  in  the  act  of  waving  a  sword  over  his  neck,  and 
darts  at  him  so  fierce  a  look,  that  he  springs  back  in  terror,  while 
his  guilty  hands  tremble.  And  how  startling  is  the  aspect  of  Caesar 
in  the  senate  house,  surrounded  by  conspirators,  and  turning  his 
face  in  every  direction,  to  meet  only  the  murderous  gleamings  of 
steel ! 

The  Eoman  prose  writers  excelled  the  poets  in  original  worth. 
Their  historical  style,  however,  like  their  Corinthian  order  of  art, 
was  founded  upon  the  Greek,  but  became  much  more  florid  than 
the  original.  Livy,  for  intance,  the  most  perfect  master  of  the 
Roman  tongue  as  a  national  historian,  is  also  the  best  illustration 
of  this  fault.  Though  excessively  ornate  in  his  emulation  of  the 
ancients,  he  yet  retained  something  of  their  merit.   Under  the  later 


LITERATURE. 


139 


Caesars,  history,  that  department  of  Augustan  literature  of  most 
sterling  worth,  grew  increasingly  corrupt  in  matter,  and  deteriorated 
in  style,  until  the  fulsome  meanness  and  insipidity  of  Velleius  was 
reached,  the  lowest  nadir  of  historic  art.  The  advancement  of  the 
government  in  despotism  is  marked  by  a  corresponding  debase- 
ment in  cotemporary  writing.  Seneca,  for  example,  threw  himself 
into  the  cold  embrace  of  Stoicism,  and  becamed  resigned  as  far  as 
possible  to  the  philosophy  of  endurance  and  the  literature  of 
despair. 

Eloquence  is  a  plant  indigenous  to  a  free  soil,  and  was  nearly  a 
stranger  to  the  Romans  until  it  was  nurtured  in  the  schools  of 
Tisias  and  Corax,  when,  on  the  dethronement  of  the  tyrants,  the 
dawn  of  freedom  brightened  upon  Sicily.  At  length  the  privilege 
of  unfettered  debate  which  had  first  found  a  congenial  home  in 
Greece,  arose  in  republican  Rome.  The  plebeians,  in  their  con- 
flicts with  the  patricians,  found  an  eflScient  advocate  in  Menenius 
Agrippa,  who  led  them  back  from  the  sacred  mountain  with  his 
rustic  wisdom.  Cases  of  oppression  found  some  Icilius  or  Virginius 
armed  with  a  panoply  of  burning  indignation,  and  many  a  Siccius 
Dentatus,  unskilled  in  pedantic  terms,  could  appeal  to  his  honorable 
wounds  and  scars  in  front  received  in  patriotic  service,  and  to  the 
vestiges  of  torture  marked  by  cruelty  on  his  back.  The  unwritten 
literature  of  active  hfe  long  preceded  the  office  of  formal  history, 
and  efficient  oratory  gradually  arose  to  counteract  by  its  antago- 
nistic spirit  the  warhke  fierceness  of  an  utilitarian  people.  As 
when  the  great  soldier,  Scipio  Africanus  Major,  was  unjustly  accused 
by  a  malignant  opponent,  the  necessity  of  personal  defense  unex- 
pectedly developed  him  into  a  consummate  orator.  Livy  adorned 
the  whole  speech  with  his  own  rhetoric,  but  A.  Gellius  has  pre- 
served the  peroration  intact,  which  refers  to  the  fortunate  anni- 
versary on  which  the  defense  was  made :  "  I  call  to  remem- 
brance, Romans,"  said  he,  "  that  this  is  the  very  day  on  which  I 
vanquished  in  a  bloody  battle  on  the  plains  of  Africa  the  Cartha- 
ginian Hannibal,  the  most  formidable  enemy  Rome  ever  encoun- 
tered. I  obtained  for  you  a  peace  and  an  unlooked-for  victory. 
Let  us  not,  then,  be  ungrateful  to  heaven,  but  let  us  leave  this 
knave,  and  at  once  ofier  our  grateful  thanksgivings  to  Jove, 
supremely  good  and  great."    The  people  obeyed  his  summons,  the 


140 


AUGUSTUS. 


forum  was  deserted,  and  crowds  followed  the  eloquent  hero  witli 
acclamations  to  tlie  Capitol. 

The  eloquence  of  Cato  was  mentioned,  in  our  general  notice  of 
his  versatile  talents.  He  was  equally  successful  as  a  speaker  and  a 
writer.  The  father  of  the  Gracchi  was  distinguished  among  his 
cotemporaries  for  effective  oratory,  but  no  specimens  have  survived. 

Scipio  Africanus  Minor  was  admirably  qualified  to  be  the  link 
between  the  old  and  new  style  of  eloquence.  In  his  soldier-like 
character,  the  harder  outhnes  of  Roman  sternness  were  modified  by 
an  ardent  love  of  learning.  His  first  campaign  was  in  Greece, 
where  he  formed  a  literary  friendship  with  leading  minds,  and  espe- 
cially with  Poly  bins,  which  ripened  into  the  closest  intimacy  when 
that  great  historian  came  as  a  hostage  to  Rome.  He  abhorred 
the  degeneracy  of  manners,  Greek  and  Roman,  but  preserving  his 
own  moral  nature  uncorrupted  thereby,  he  was  faithful  in  all  the 
active  duties  of  intelligent  citizenship.  Greek  refinement  had  not 
destroyed  the  frankness,  whilst  it  had  humanized  the  boldness  of 
the  Roman ;  but  prompted  him  to  love  the  beautiful  as  well  as  the 
good,  and  to  believe  that  elegance  was  by  no  means  incompatible 
with  strength.  Laelius  was  his  friend,  and  Servius  Sulpicius  Galba 
his  successor  in  the  more  cultivated  style  of  animated  oratoiy. 

But  the  Gracchi  have  the  strongest  claim  upon  the  grateful  re- 
membrance of  all  who  love  democratic  freedom.  They  paid  the 
penalty  usually  connected  with  high  destinies  ;  but  their  death  was 
the  occasion  of  a  better  life  to  millions.  Political  changes  which 
had  been  advancing  slowly,  but  surely,  ^pr  centuries,  found  in  those 
two  brothers  the  fitting  instruments  of  a  glorious  consummation. 
Under  their  direction,  the  result  of  a  long  and  obstinate  struggle 
was,  that  the  old  distinction  of  patrician  and  plebeian  was  abolished. 
Plebeians  held  the  consulship  and  censorship,  and  patricians,  like 
the  Gracchi,  stood  forward  as  plebeian  tribunes  and  champions  of 
popular  rights.  Such  revolutionary  periods  usually  produce  extra- 
ordinary powers  of  eloquence,  as  in  this  instance.  Lepidus  Porcina, 
greatly  imbued  with  Attic  gentleness,  was  the  model  followed  by 
Tiberius  Gracchus ;  and  Papirius  Carbo,  who  united  the  gift  of  a 
delightful  voice  to  verbal  copiousness,  was  his  ultra-liberal  col- 
league; while  ^milius  Scaurus,  and  Rutilius  Rufus,  were  distin- 
guished for  opposing  strength. 


LITERATURE. 


141 


The  Gracchi  themselves  were  distinguished  for  gentle  vigor, 
aided  by  a  happy  combination  of  accomplished  endowments.  Their 
father  possessed  an  exalted  character,  and  their  mother  inherited 
the  strong  mind  and  energetic  genius  of  Scipio.  She  was  well 
acquainted  with  Greek  and  Latin  literature,  with  which  she  early 
imbued  her  aspiring  sons.  Tiberius  was  cool  and  sedate  in  speech, 
as  in  temperament ;  free  from  the  storms  of  passion,  he  was  self- 
possessed  in  debate,  as  stoical  in  disasters  as  was  his  philosophic 
creed.  Caius,  who  was  nine  years  younger,  was  morally  inferior  to 
Tiberius,  but  greatly  his  superior  in  intellect.  He  was  less  un- 
swerving in  purpose,  but  he  was  more  susceptible  of  generous 
impulses,  and  had  a  much  greater  measure  of  creative  genius. 
Cicero  says  that  his  imagination,  lashed  by  the  violence  of  his  pas- 
sions, required  a  strong  curb  ;  but  for  that  very  reason  it  gushed 
forth  as  from  a  natural  fountain,  and  like  a  torrent  swept  all  before 
it.  On  one  occasion,  his  look,  his  voice,  his  gestures,  were  so  inex- 
pressibly affecting,  that  even  his  enemjes  were  dissolved  in  tears. 
His  education  enabled  him  to  rid  himself  of  the  harshness  of  the 
old  school,  and  to  gain  the  reputation  of  being  the  father  of  Roman 
prose. 

M.  Antonius  entered  public  life  under  brilliant  auspices,  but  he 
was  greater  as  a  judicial  than  as  a  deliberative  orator.  L.  Licinius 
Orassus  was  four  years  younger  than  Antony,  having  been  born 
B.  c.  140.  The  last  and  n;iost  distinguished  of  the  pre-Ciceronian 
orators,  was  Q.  Hortensius,  son  of  L.  Hortensius,  prsetor  of  Sicily, 
and  was  born  b.  c.  97.  When  Crassus  and  Antony  were  dead,  he 
was  left  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  forum  until  the  effacing 
brightness  of  Rome's  culminating  star  arose.  In  the  cause  of  Quin- 
tius,  the  two  great  orators  first  came  into  direct  conflict,  when  the 
mightier  rival  paid  the  highest  possible  comphment  to  the  talents 
and  genius  of  Hortensius,  at  the  same  time  he  clearly  excelled  him. 
As  supreme  as  was  the  career  of  Cicero  in  the  realm  of  eloquence, 
he  was  yet  more  influential  in  the  department  of  philosophy  at 
Rome,  and  we  reserve  a  more  extended  notice  of  him  for  the  chap- 
ter under  that  head. 

After  the  battle  of  Actium,  the  spirit  of  faction  and  tumult  sub- 
sided in  a  measure ;  and  the  love  of  letters,  with  a  better  sway, 
succeeded  to  that  love  of  arms  which  had  occupied  every  Roman 


142 


AUGUSTUS. 


mind  for  seven  hmidred  years.  The  empire  was  at  peace,  and  uni- 
versal plunder  had  immensely  enriched  the  metropolis.  Gorgeous 
embellishment  began  to  be  admired,  without  producing  correct 
taste ;  and,  as  a  higher  order  of  mind  endeavored  to  cultivate  a 
national  literature,  the  language,  like  the  capital  of  brick,  seemed 
to  have  become  marble.  But  never  was  Rome  able  to  attain  supe- 
rior distinction  in  elegant  letters,  or  diffuse  among  her  citizens  a 
general  taste  for  refinement.  An  Athenian  of  the  humblest  rank 
could  sit  from  morning  to  evening  intent  upon  the  scenes  of 
chylus  or  Sophocles;  but  the  Roman  plebeian  soon  wearied  of 
mental  exhilaration,  and  turned  to  the  more  genial  enjoyment  of 
beast  mangled  by  beast,  and  man  by  man.  Nor  was  this  pecuhar 
to  the  lower  classes.  Knights  and  senators  would  hazard  life  in 
forcing  their  way  into  the  amphitheatre,  where  they  often  strug- 
gled on  the  arena  with  their  own  slaves.  Nothing  beautiful  was 
ever  loved  by  them  for  its  own  sake,  but  might  be  haughtily  pa- 
tronized as  an  appendage  to  sensual  delights.  Throngs  of  poets  and 
musicians  attended  at  the  public  baths  to  recite  or  sing ;  and  at 
supper,  old  and  young  bound  their  heads  with  laurel,  not  the  ama- 
ranth of  Minerva,  but  the  gory  weed  of  Mars.  This  was  only  an 
affected  love  of  letters,  and  was  equally  gratified  when  entertained, 
at  intervals,  by  wandering  sophists,  gladiators,  jesters,  or  conjurors, 
as  was  common  around  the  triclinium  of  the  emperor  himself.  At 
the  best  epoch,  a  passion  for  literature  and  art  was  not  the  enthu- 
siasm of  appreciative  genius,  but  only  a  transient  fashion  of  the 
court. 

After  the  death  of  Brutus,  the  world  of  letters  shared  in  the  uni- 
versal change  which  transpired  in  the  political  world,  so  that  liter- 
ature under  Augustus  soon  assumed  a  new  and  general  tone  en- 
tirely its  own.  The  first  five  centuries  of  the  republic  formed  the 
foundation  on  which  the  whole  superstructure  of  the  Augustan  age 
was  built.  Literature  was  the  last  and  least  thing  for  that  people 
to  produce,  and  no  indications  of  valuable  fruit  appeared  until  the 
end  of  the  first  Punic  war.  About  two  centuries  later,  Cicero,  who 
became  the  representative  of  eloquence,  philosophy,  and  sounding 
prose,  was  succeeded  by  Augustus,  under  whose  auspices  passed  the 
golden  age  of  Latin  poetry.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  clas- 
sical literature  died  with  Hadrian ;  chilled  by  the  baleful  influence 


LITERATURE. 


143 


of  his  tyrannical  successors,  the  literati  who  had  been  patronized  by 
the  luxurious  court  sank  into  contempt.  The  only  appropriate  epi- 
thet which  cotemporaries  employed  to  characterize  the  age,  was 
"  iron,"  and  it  must  have  been  both  hard  and  cold.  Sensual  en- 
joyment deteriorated  popular  taste,  and  impotent  re  very  took  the 
place  of  energetic  thought  in  the  higher  order  of  minds.  Since 
Cicero,  the  flourishing  period  of  eloquence  had  disappeared,  and 
insipid  daintiness  of  language  was  the  only  Hnguistic  excellence  ad- 
mired. Seneca  referred  to  this  national  degradation  in  literature, 
when  he  said,  "  Wherever  you  perceive  that  a  corrupt  taste  pleases, 
be  sure  that  the  morals  of  the  people  have  degenerated." 

Varro,  Caesar,  and  Cicero  contributed  most  to  the  perfection  of 
the  Roman  dialect.  The  period  of  its  greatest  elegance  extended 
from  the  reign  of  Augustus  to  that  of  Claudius,  a.  d.  54.  By  that 
time  the  struggle  for  liberty  had  been  extinguished  in  those  public 
calamities  which  plunged  so  many  leading  families  into  wretched- 
ness, and  caused  the  national  spirit  to  be  completely  broken  down. 
The  period  which  embraced  the  lives  of  Cicero  and  Augustus  con- 
stituted the  best  epoch  of  both  prose  and  poetry.  Dramatic  liter- 
ature, it  is  true,  never  recovered  from  the  trance  into  which  it  fell 
after  the  days  of  Attius  and  Terence,  yet  .^opus  and  Roscius,  the 
great  tragedian  and  the  favorite  comedian  in  the  time  of  the  great- 
est orator  at  Rome,  amassed  gi'eat  wealth.  But  the  theatrical  en- 
tertainments which  had  now  taken  the  place  of  legitimate  dramas, 
were  termed  mimes,  and  were  ludicrous  imitations  of  popular  cus- 
toms or  persons.  The  name  was  Greek,  but  the  composition  was 
entirely  Roman  in  style  and  purpose.  Their  indecent  coarseness 
of  burlesque  dialogue  gratified  the  populace,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  modern  pantomime. 

Decius  Laberius,  born  at  Puteoli,  b.  c.  45,  under  the  dictatorship 
of  Julius  Csesar,  was  a  Mime  who  became  distinguished  in  this  sort 
of  composition,  and  won  even  the  praise  of  Horace.  Another  was 
C.  Valerius  Catullus,  born  b.  c.  86,  and  who  was  nine  years 
younger  than  the  great  didactic  poet  and  philosopher,  Lucretius, 
whom  we  shall  notice  under  the  head  of  philosophy.  Catullus 
belonged  to  a  respectable  family,  residing  on  the  Lago  di  Garda, 
near  Verona.  At  an  early  age  he  went  to  Rome,  became  very 
erudite,  and  plunged  into  the  licentious  excesses  of  the  capital. 


144' 


AUGUSTUS. 


Catullus  possessed  captivating  talents,  but  of  a  perverted  use; 
satire  as  vindictive  in  spirit  as  it  was  varied  in  power.  His  poetry 
was  such  as  might  be  expected  from  the  tenor  of  his  life,  and  a 
career  which  began  in  extravagant  debaucheiy  terminated  in  hope- 
less ruin. 

P.  Virgilius  Maro,  born  b.  c.  70,  was  a  citizen  of  Mantua.  Most 
of  his  early  training  was  at  Cremona,  whence  he  removed  to  Milan, 
and  afterward  to  Naples,  where  he  studied  Greek  literature  and 
philosophy  under  the  direction  of  Parthenius.  Congenial  tastes 
recommended  him  to  Assinius  Pollio,  who  aided  the  poet  in  his 
pecuniary  distress,  and  introduced  him  to  the  wealthiest  patron  of 
literature  at  Rome.  By  that  means  the  favor  of  Octavius  was 
reached,  and  bright  fortunes  were  secured.  In  the  maturity  of  his 
faculties,  Virgil  visited  Greece  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  final 
polish  to  his  great  epic  poem.  At  Athens  he  met  Augustus,  who 
was  on  his  way  back  from  Samos,  and  both  returned  together.  But 
the  beautiful  spirit  that  yet  reigned  over  the  scenes  of  his  recent 
visit  evidently  inspired  his  latest  and  finest  writing.  The  favorite 
haunts  of  the  muses,  the  time-honored  contests  of  Olympia,  the 
living  and  breathing  master-pieces  which  he  admired  in  that  home 
of  art,  adorn  the  opening  of  the  third  Georgic.  But  Virgil  had 
all  his  life  borrowed  so  unsparingly  fi-om  Grecian  invention,  that  we 
may  infer  his  intention  to  have  been,  not  to  produce  much,  if  any 
thing,  new,  but  skillfully  to  collect  and  smoothly  repeat  in  his 
rougher  tongue  what  long  before  had  been  much  more  elegantly 
and  vividly  expressed.  His  ^neid  was  artificially  polished  to  a 
high  degree,  but  can  never  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  what  great 
unassisted  invention  might  effect.  If  from  the  structure  of  its 
fable,  one  should  deduct  the  portions  taken  from  the  Ihad  and 
Odyssey,  together  with  what  was  appropriated  from  the  Troades 
of  Euripides,  and  the  lost  poem  of  the  lesser  Iliad,  doubtless  but 
little  original  matter  would  remain  to  glorify  the  best  specimen  of 
Augustan  poetry  in  its  best  time. 

Had  Virgil  given  more  prominence  to  the  old  heroic  traditions 
and  rural  pursuits  of  his  ancestors,  he  would  have  taken  a  stronger 
hold  upon  cotemporaries,  and  increased  his  influence  with  posterity. 
The  enlargement  of  his  epic  scope  would  have  added  freedom  to 
its  treatment,  and  enhanced  the  value  of  its  use.    But,  submitting 


LITERATURE. 


145 


to  court  artificialness,  rendered  more  pernicious  by  his  dependance 
thereon,  the  stilf  arrangement  of  Virgil's  greatest  poem  grows 
more  and  more  formal  as  the  plan  proceeds.  The  ^neid  opeus 
with  a  copious  use  of  early  Greek  inventions  respecting  the  Trojan 
period,  and  the  origin  of  the  Romans.  The  further  we  leave  these 
behind,  the  duller  is  the  prospect ;  and  when  we  have  finished  th^ 
greatest  national  poem  of  the  Augustan  age,  really  valuable  as  it 
is,  we  do  not  wonder  that  the  author  himself,  in  view  of  the  nobler 
models  he  had  copied,  wished  his  own  work  were  destroyed.  Fine 
conceptions  and  careful  finish  Virg-il  doubtless  possessed,  but  the 
corrui^t  Ovid  was  perhaps  more  of.  a  spontaneous  poet,  and  the 
careless  Lucretius  bore  an  intenser  charm. of  nationality,  impelled 
as  he  was  by  inspiration  more  truly  Roman.  He  exhibited  less  art, 
and  stalked  forth  with  fewer  airs  of  afiected  dignity ;  but  whatever 
of  strength  and  elegance  he  did  employ,  were  more  decidedly  his 
own. 

The  specific  qualities  of  Roman  writers  are  clearly  marked.  In 
Livy,  it  is  the  manner  of  telling  a  story ;  in  Sallust,  personal  iden- 
tification with  the  character;  in  Tacitus,  the  analysis  of  the  deed 
into  its  motive ;  and  in  the  style  of  Virgil,  the  intimation  of  rank 
is  equally  plain.  He  who  was  helped  up  out  of  abject  dependance, 
in  his  pride  of  place  shrunk  from  all  contact  with  poverty.  In  the 
hut  of  a  herdsman,  or  seated  with  a  shepherd  in  the  shade,  he  still 
wears  the  air  of  dignity,  relaxing  with  difliculty  into  bucolics.  He 
accepts  a  maple  cup  from  a  peasant,  with  the  patronizing  mien  of  a 
courtier,  who  is  thinking  all  the  while  of  the  last  amphora  opened 
by  the  princely  Mecsenas.  Nevertheless  Virgil  had  in  him  a  true 
and  natural  love  for  rural  purity,  which  was  so  sadly  perverted  by 
the  astute  formalism  of  the  imperial  court.  In  the  healthful  old 
times  of  the  Republic,  the  noblest  citizens  and  most  illustrious  au- 
thors were  agiiculturists  by  habitual  pursuit,  or  chosen  recreation. 
This  feeling  remained  in  Virgil  to  the  last,  glowing  in  the  Eclogues, 
and  especially  in  the  Georgics  most  happily  expressed.  If  he  had 
given  undivided  attention  to  this  species  of  literature  in  his  riper 
years,  he  might  have  been  to  a  still  higher  degree  the  poet  of  his 
nation ;  but,  like  all  the  rest,  he  was  drawn  near  the  throne  of 
despotic  rule,  and  both  lived  and  died  the  poet  of  th^  me- 
tropoUs. 

7 


146 


AUGUSTUS. 


But  even  less  original  than  the  epic  was  the  lyrical  poetiy  of  the 
Augustan  age,  the  great  master  of  which  was  Horatius  Flaccus, 
born  B.C.  65.  He  infused  little  personal  feehng  into  his  writings, 
especially  the  lesser  odes  ;  in  the  place  of  nature,  we  have  art,  and 
instead  of  grand  enthusiasm,  a  plenty  of  pretty  imitation.  Some- 
times, however,  he  leaves  the  Greeks  and  draws  wholly  from  him- 
self, which  effusions  are  the  means  of  a  permanent  injQuence,  and 
render  their  author,  in  his  way,  the  best  writer  of  Rome.  Most 
of  the  poetry  of  that  age  was  written  to  express  gratitude  to  a  pa- 
tron, or  court  favor  from  a  prince.  As  the  great  portion  of  readers 
were  of  the  patrician  rank,  the  composition  was  fashioned  to  patri- 
cian taste,  and  was  as  full  of  sycophancy  as  the  sentiments  expressed 
were  undignified.  Popular  eloquence  was  no  more,  and,  when  free 
prose  was  silenced,  the  fulsome  epoch  of  poetic  flattery  began.  The 
profuse  coffers  of  Octavius  were  opened  in  extravagant  rewards  to 
prostituted  talents,  and  Virgil,  Propertius,  and  Horace,  polished 
their  praise,  and  pocketed  the  gold.  Of  this  talented  trio,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  Propertius  was  best  qualified  for  the  execution  of  an 
epic  worthy  of  Rome  ;  he,  however,  aspired  less  after  fame  than  to 
enjoy  the  morbid  sensibility  of  disappointed  love,  and  has  left  only 
a  few  writings  steeped  in  tenderness,  but  possessing  very  little 
worth. 

Ovidius  Naso,  born  b.  c.  43,  lived  in  a  voluptuous  age,  and  his 
works  are  imbued  with  all  its  grossness.  To  the  first  half  of  the 
Augustan  epoch  is  commonly  attributed  the  chief  aggregate  of 
genius  and  talent  of  greatest  distinction,  but  it  was  only  the  occasion 
of  their  development,  and  not  the  period  of  their  origin.  All  the 
really  great  of  after  renown,  were  the  produce  of  republicanism, 
and  whose  youth  had  ardently  admired  the  freedom  from  which 
their  chief  strength  was  derived.  The  most  rugged  of  those  who 
were  drawn  to  the  capital  to  adorn  its  imperialism  with  refined 
letters,  were  deteriorated  by  the  frigid  subserviency  to  which  they 
submitted ;  while  those  who  were  actually  born  under  Augustus, 
and  exemplified  the  spirit  of  their  time,  like  Ovid,  were  both  in 
sentiment  and  style,  infamously  bad. 

Least  of  all  were  the  Romans  successful  in  tragedy,  that  noblest 
form  of  hterary  composition,  and  in  which  the  Greeks  most  excelled. 
Ti'ue,  those  specimens  which  were  anciently  regarded  as  the  best, 


LITERATURE. 


147 


such  as  the  Medea  of  Ovid,  and  the  Thyestes  of  Varius,  are  not 
now  extant ;  but  all  that  does  remain  is  stamped  with  the  manners 
of  a  people  too  frivolous  and  vitiated  to  render  tragedy  either  dig- 
nified or  interesting.  Their  taste  and  talents  were  fitted  only  to 
produce  and  relish  representations  of  low  comedy.  But  here,  too, 
as  in  every  other  walk,  they  were  radically  defective  as  to  original 
merit,  many  of  their  comedies  being  nothing  better  than  free  trans- 
lations from  the  Greek.  Plautus  is  infected  with  all  the  faults  of 
Aristophanes,  and  is  vastly  inferior  in  the  pungency  of  his  wit; 
though  his  plots  may  be  more  natural,  and  his  talents  have  a  less 
malicious  design.  The  minor  epic  poets  failed  still  more  egregi- 
ously,  both  as  to  the  sentiments  ascribed  to  their  heroes,  and  the 
modes  of  their  expression.  Ovid  is  frequently  puerile  to  the  last 
degree ;  and  Lucan  labors  continually  after  the  happy  turn  of  an 
epigram,  but  seldom  with  success.  Claudian  and  Statius  are  habit- 
ually bombastic,  but  never  sublime ;  and  their  successors  sunk  even 
lower  the  depressed  level  of  cotemporary  worth.  The  Augustan 
age,  in  its  best  period,  was  in  some  respects  like  a  well-cultivated 
garden,  full  of  choice  exotics,  but  containing  little  of  natural  growth ; 
an  assemblage  of  beauties,  gathered  from  various  regions,  and  some- 
times grouped  with  an  approach  to  elegance. 

In  the  age  of  Augustus,  there  were  a  moderately  large  number 
of  literati,  but  few  patrons ;  Mecaenas  stood  first  and  alone ;  even 
the  emperor  himself  was  second.  The  Romans  possessed  the  means 
of  greatly  enlarging  the  field  of  human  knowledge,  and  the  elder 
Pliny,  artificial  as  he  was,  indicated  how  well  those  means  might 
have  been  employed.  But  that  people  were  utterly  defective  as  to 
simphcity  of  hfe,  and  could  not,  therefore,  excel  in  the  more  natural 
forms  of  literature.  Theocritus,  whose  genius  was  Grecian,  infused 
much  beauty  into  his  pastorals,  and  left  small  room  for  novelty  to 
his  successor,  Virgil.  The  latter  gave  little  attention  to  the  real 
life  of  shepherds,  and  wrote  eclogues,  highly  finished  in  manner, 
but  in  substance,  quite  unnatural.  That  author,  like  all  his  com- 
peers, lived  too  much  in  an  artificial  world,  and  was  too  conversant 
with  corrupt  courts,  and  splendid  dissipations,  to  admire  unadorned 
beauty,  and  out  of  it  to  coin  literary  delights  to  nourish  and  exalt 
the  sons  of  purity  and  peace.  And  yet  it  was  in  didactic  poetry 
the  Romans  were  most  successful.    The  Georgics  of  Virgil,  and  the 


148 


AUGUSTUS. 


poetical  dogmatics  of  Lucretius,  display  the  opened  treasures  of^ 
perhaps,  the  only  original  mine  Latins  ever  worked. 

Greeks  of  the  later  period  were  sometimes  caustic  in  their  criti- 
cisms on  cotemporaries,  but  the  great  majority  of  their  writers  were 
too  amiable  to  employ  satire ;  and  this  only  novelty  in  literature, 
of  which  they  were  happily  ignorant,  it  was  the  equivocal  honor 
of  the  Romans  to  invent.  It  was  this  form  which  comedy  assumed 
among  a  people  who  could  not  appreciate  the  legitimate  drama. 
Ennius  was  the  inventor  of  the  name,  Lucilius  of  its  substance. 
Persius  used  it  for  didactic  purposes,  and  Terence  and  Juvenal  gave 
increased  reputation  to  this  new  form  of  lettered  malice.  But 
Horace  alone  seems  to  have  understood  the  only  useful  end  to 
which  poetic  sarcasm  might  be  applied,  by  making  it  the  vehicle 
of  amusing  narrative,  and  picturesque  description.  His  sometimes 
elegant  raillery  at  popular  foibles,  and  inveterate  vices,  doubtless  had 
a  better  effect  than  could  have  been  reached  by  more  serious  discourse. 

A  life  of  literaiy  or  artistic  pursuits,  was  never  in  high  estimation 
among  the  Romans.  This  is  indicated  by  the  frequent  occasions 
Cicero  employs  to  apologize  for  occupations  which,  at  Athens, 
throughout  her  glorious  career,  so  far  from  requiring  excuse,  would 
have  been  esteemed  the  strongest  claim  to  popular  regard.  Virgil, 
too,  in  some  of  his  most  exquisite  lines  of  the  sixth  .^neid,  hesitates 
not  to  speak  slightingly  of  the  arts,  and  even  of  oratory ;  and  to 
represent  no  pursuit  as  becoming  the  majesty  of  a  Roman,  but  to 
hold  the  sceptre,  dictate  laws,  to  spare  the  prostrate,  and  humble 
the  proud.  Horace  had  a  true  feeling  for  heroic  greatness,  and 
would  have  produced  writings  worthy  of  himself,  probably,  had  the 
rare  gifts  of  his  republican  youth  been  exercised  under  the  same  aus- 
pices in  their  maturity.  When  the  commonwealth  was  overthrown, 
he  may  have  suffered  many  bitter  regrets.  Some  charitably  be- 
lieve that  the  excess  of  his  mirth  is  only  the  mask  of  unavailing 
grief.  A  happier  inspiration  occasionally  emits  jets  of  patriotic 
flame,  but  in  general  all  the  native  fires  of  his  genius  were 
subdued  to  the  base  office  of  illuminating  a  palace  he  had  too 
much  reason  to  despise.  Inclination,  not  less  than  conviction,  may 
have  prompted  him  to  become  the  defender  of  free  speech  in  per- 
petual support  of  democratic  progress ;  but  policy  dictated  that  he 
should  write  as  a  royalist,  and  glorify  the  empire  of  force.  When 


LITERATURE. 


149 


the  great  Cicero  was  sacrificed  in  a  fitful  effort  again  to  be  free, 
Horace  was  too  cowardly  and  recreant  to  indite  one  word  in  his 
behalf,  or  even  to  mention  his  name.  Imperial  tyrants  trampled 
on  all  the  germs  of  free  thought,  till  nothing  but  a  barren  field  re- 
mained, and  then  such  creatures  as  Lucan,  once  a  professed  repub- 
lican, sank  into  the  hireling's  wealth,  and  splendidly  crouched  at 
Nero's  feet.  He  found  nothing  near  and  national  to  commend,  and 
so  he  praised  the  superseded  Cato,  with  other  heroes  yet  more  re- 
mote. Persius  pursued  the  same  low  trade,  and  completed  the 
picture  of  an  age  thoroughly  corrupt. 

Almost  the  only  redeeming  fact  in  the  history  of  Roman  litera- 
ture was,  that  the  most  elevated  individuals  took  an  active  part  in 
its  early  culture,  and  co-operated  with  all  subordinate  endeavors  to 
perfect  its  merit.  Hence  the  air  of  majesty  stamped  upon  their 
published  thought,  and  which  wears  an  aspect  of  greatness  in  con- 
trast with  the  preceding  age  of  beauty.  Despite  the  servility  of 
Roman  writers,  their  works  obtained  an  appearance  of  dignity  and 
worth,  by  forming  the  great  point  of  union  between  the  ancient  and 
the  modern  world.  That  which  most  atones  for  innumerable  de- 
fects, is  their  one  great  and  pervading  idea  of  Rome  itself ;  Rome 
so  wonderful  in  her  energy  and  laws,  so  colossal  in  her  conquests 
and  crimes.  Something  of  this  independent  dignity  appears  in 
even  the  most  slavish  imitator,  and  relieves  the  otherwise  ignoble 
traits  of  his  character.  But  this  stamp  of  grandeur  was  impressed 
on  her  literature  only  while  Rome  was  extending  her  dominion 
over  the  world,  impelled  by  an  irresistible  confidence  in  the  ascend- 
ency of  her  victorious  star.  Rough,  obdurate,  and  almost  uncivil- 
ized, Rome  disdained  the  practice  and  despised  the  advantages  of 
commerce.  The  mother-country  possessed  no  arts  of  refinement  to 
export  to  the  countries  she  conquered,  or  the  colonies  she  planted ; 
so  far  from  producing  an  overplus  to  supply  the  destitute,  she  often 
dispossessed  those  who  were  more  refined,  and  who  were  in  a  meas- 
ure themselves  enriched.  When  Greece  submitted  to  Roman 
power,  she  obtained  a  more  illustrious  triumph  over  rustic  ignor- 
ance and  military  force,  through  the  influence  of  literature,  science, 
and  the  elegant  arts. 

As  western  Asia,  from  the  earliest  times,  was  the  great  highway 
of  culture  to  Greece,  so  the  -^ean  islands  and  the  western  colonies 


150 


AUGUSTUS. 


were  the  intermediate  steps  to  Roman  supremacy,  even  to  the  At- 
lantic coast.  The  sphere  of  civiHzation  was  vastly  developed  by 
the  indefatigable  attempts  of  Alexander  to  mix  all  the  eastern  na- 
tions ;  but  the  unity  which  he  failed  to  create  under  the  spiritual 
influence  of  Greece  was  infinitely  extended  and  established  through 
the  agency  of  material  Rome.  At  the  same  time  their  martial  influ- 
ence was  rising,  the  greatness  of  their  character,  strictness  of  their 
laws,  love  of  their  country,  and  high  opinion  of  themselves  common 
to  that  nation,  rose  with  correlative  might.  But  these  more  noble 
characteristics  changed  as  soon  as  universal  conquest  was  reached, 
and  their  fall  was  as  humiliating  as  their  ascent  had  been  sublime. 
The  ^empire  was  quickly  dissolved,  because,  inveterate  in  national 
vanity,  Rome  refused  to  be  instructed  by  defeat,  but  construed  fatal 
disasters  into  occasions  for  vain  hope.  From  the  accession  of  Au- 
gustus to  Theodosius  the  Great,  a.  d.  395,  every  national  incident 
was  a  manifestation  of  apparent  decay ;  but  in  reality,  at  the  same 
time,  there  was  gathering  underneath  a  deeper  and  purer  tide  of 
civilization,  in  due  time  to  burst  forth  with  redeeming  power  yet 
further  west. 

Rome  was  the  second  link  between  the  ancient  and  modem 
world.  In  her  career  of  conquest,  she  garnered  all  wealth  by 
force ;  and  when  she  fell,  it  was  at  the  exact  moment  when  her 
hoarded  treasures  would  best  promote  the  fortunes  of  mankind. 
The  eagles  of  Rome  soared  with  talons  and  pinions  wet  with  gore, 
but  the  seeds  of  great  institutions  were  thus  made  the  more  firmly 
to  adhere,  and  they  bore  them  over  Apennines  and  the  Alps.  They 
were  most  signally  the  instruments  of  Providence  for  benefitting  suc- 
ceeding nations  in  literature  and  religion.  By  the  consequences 
which  ensued  upon  Roman  conquests,  the  way  was  cleared  for  the 
most  auspicious  propagation  of  Christianity ;  and  the  suddenness 
of  her  fall,  as  clearly  as  the  savageness  of  her  ascendancy,  proved 
that  the  wisest  scheme  of  selfishness  carries  within  itself  the  guar- 
anty of  utter  dissolution.  Into  the  richness  of  her  ruins  were  cast 
the  seeds  of  intellectual  renovation,  and  posterity  was  made  to  reap 
rich  harvests  from  fields  plowed  by  chariots  of  war  and  fructified 
with  human  blood.  That  mighty  nation  was  predestined  to  be  a 
transporter,  and  not  a  producer,  of  ennobling  worth  ;  and  it  was 
wisely  ordered  that  she  should  possess  no  native  production  of  suffi- 


LITERATURE. 


151 


cient  splendor  to  make  her  regardless  o^  those  that  might  come  in 
her  way,  and  whose  superior  worth  she  might  appropriate.  Cicero 
and  Pliny,  with  their  Hterary  associates,  were  not  propomiders  of 
new  theories,  but  transmitters  and  commentators  of  the  old.  Thus 
every  age  has  been  conserved,  without  accumulating  a  burden  too 
great ;  and  the  mighty  aggregate,  fused  into  an  appropriate  adapt- 
ation to  future  uses,  has  come  down  to  us.  If  a  thousand  tributa- 
ries, from  every  direction,  were  made  to  pour  their  currents  into 
one  great  central  reservoir,  it  was  with  the  divine  intention,  when 
the  fitting  epoch  arrived,  to  empty  all  the  mighty  tide  towards  the 
western  main,  and  by  that  means,  at  a  later  era,  to  infuse  into  a 
prolific  soil  all  the  wisdom  of  the  ancient  world. 

Greece  carried  individual  culture  to  the  highest  pitch,  but  never 
established  social  relations  on  a  sufficiently  solid  basis.  It  was  not 
her  mission  to  combine  subjugated  nations  into  a  consolidated 
imion,  as  the  terrible  Peloponnesian  war  and  the  lamentable  history 
of  Alexander  and  his  successors  but  too  sadly  proved.  To  work 
out  the  piinciple  of  association  on  a  broad  and  enduring  scale  was 
a  task  destined  for  the  Roman  race,  and  sublimely  was  it  performed. 
Through  the  protracted  process  of  conflict  between  contrasted  na- 
tions, and  their  homogeneous  assimilation,  the  great  centre  of  pro- 
gressive culture  was  removed  another  step  from  the  East.  More 
skillful  in  the  art  of  establishing  durable  political  ties,  Rome  was 
soon  surrounded  by  a  social  net-work  which  embraced  all  the  his- 
toric races.  It  was  a  vast  empire  which  recombined  preceding 
epochs,  and  presented  the  spectacle  of  the  most  brilHant  interlacing 
of  universal  associations  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  firet  extensive  library  at  Rome,  was  that  of  Paulus  ^milus, 
taken  b.  c.  167,  from  Perses,  king  of  Macedon.  The  next,  and  the 
largest  in  the  world,  was  collected  by  the  Saracens  at  Cordova,  in 
Spain.  Books,  like  every  other  civilizing  element,  followed  the 
sun.  Before  Carthage  perished,  Greek  was  widely  known  along 
the  MediteiTanean  shores.  Hannibal  wrote  the  history  of  his  wars 
in  that  language,  and  through  the  same  luminous  medium  were  the 
maritime  adventures  of  Carthaginian  navigators  described.  But 
as  the  conquering  power  of  Rome  stamped  all  nationalities  with  its 
image  and  superscription,  so  the  superinduction  of  their  language 
extinguished  the  living  idioms  of  many  tribes,  or  absorbed  into 


152 


AUGUSTUS. 


itself  all  the  sources  of  expansive  and  formative  life  which  they  con- 
tained. When  sufficiently  matured,  the  Latin  language  was 
spread  over  a  much  larger  surface  of  the  world  than  the  Grecian, 
even  before  the  seat  of  empire  was  removed  to  Byzantium.  The 
diffusion  of  a  tongue  so  strongly  endowed,  and  imbued  with  such 
prolific  means  of  promoting  national  union,  tended  powerfully 
toward  making  mankind  human,  by  furnishing  them  with  a  com- 
mon country.  To  this  end,  Cincinnatus  lived  in  democratic  sim- 
plicity, tilling  his  own  soil,  and  yet  nobler  than  a  lord  ;  he  was  as 
competent  as  he  was  ready  for  any  public  service,  but  first  bound 
the  brightest  laurel  to  the  plow.  Splendors  multiplied  and  power 
increased,  while  the  elder  Scipio  lay  in  the  bosom  of  Ennius,  Lae- 
lius  was  flattered  by  the  rumor  of  his  helping  Terence,  and  Virgil 
brightened  the  purple  of  Rome's  great  emperor.  Then  imperial 
eagles  and  mailed  legions  executed  the  commands  of  a  single  indi- 
vidual on  the  seven  hills,  and  the  strength  which  had  been  created 
by  the  republic  enabled  a  tyrant  like  Tiberius  to  rivet  tbe  chains  of 
the  world.  The  era  of  exalted  literary  worth,  imperfect  at  the 
best,  continued  only  about  one  century,  and  thenceforth  till  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  language,  the  progress  of  corruption  w^as  rapid  and 
fatal.  After  the  reign  of  Trajan,  all  healthful  development  ceased. 
In  the  fourth  century,  such  works  as  those  of  Ammianus  Marcelli- 
nus,  Boethius  Fronto,  Lactantius,  and  Symmachus,  proved  that  the 
utmost  degradation  was  not  yet  attained,  but  these  were  the  last 
vital  utterances  of  the  Roman  tongue.  A  few  years  after,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  language  was  either  foreign  or  provincial.  Pure 
Latin  was  forever  dead. 

It  is  painful  to  contemplate  the  countless  battles  and  destructive 
wars  which  so  becloud  and  disfigure  the  Augustan  age.  But  we 
should  recollect  that  the  annals  of  past  nations,  with  all  their  end- 
less and  apparently  useless  contests,  are  but  motes  in  the  sun  com- 
pared with  the  great  whole  of  human  destiny.  Amid  the  thickest 
gloom,  Tacitus,  with  searching  eye,  fathomed  the  mission  of  his  age, 
and  saw  that  the  great  system  of  pacification  which  Octavius  Csesar 
promised  to  the  nations  was  delusive,  and  that  there  were  yet  more 
desolating  revolutions  to  transpire  before  heaven's  highest  boon  of 
freedom  could  be  enjoyed.  The  one,  imperishable,  ever-progressive, 
and  all-devouring  city,  Rome,  was  to  gather  all  oriental  wealth  to 


LITERATURE. 


153 


herself;  and  then,  as  she  had  taken  the  sword  to  reap  with,  so 
should  the  sword  become  the  grand  instrument  of  distribution,  and 
the  great  West  be  sown  with  the  spoils.  The  first  repulse  was  at 
Numantia,  in  Spain,  when  Scipio  saw  Roman  invincibility  broken, 
and  the  hour  sounded  when  Rome  herself  must  take  blows  as  well 
as  give.  Gaul  cost  her  fifteen  stubborn  battles  and  a  most  costly- 
effusion  of  blood,  which  were  afterward  repaid  by  perpetual  levies 
made  on  Italian  territory  and  wealth.  At  this  moment,  Celts  are 
masters  in  her  capital.  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  with  wives  and  chil-  * 
dren,  descended  upon  the  prepared  field  in  whole  tribes,  directly 
the  time  had  come  for  salutary  amalgamation  in  view  of  prospective 
destinies ;  and  the  knell  of  the  Augustan  age  resounded  from  afar, 
when  Varus  was  defeated  by  the  German  Arminius  in  his  native 
woods. 


CHAPTER  II. 


AKT. 

Roman  genius  was  somewhat  inventive,  but  it  was  exercised  only 
in  pandering  to  sensual  gratification.  There  the  plow,  the  pen,  and 
the  chisel  were  all  in  the  hands  of  slaves.  No  free-souled  Plato 
enchanted  appreciative  throngs  in  the  umbrageous  walks  of  a  Latin 
Academy,  nor  was  there  a  Demosthenes  to  wave  the  stormy  de- 
mocracy into  a  calm  from  some  sunny  hill-side.  Very  few  artists 
of  Roman  blood  possessed  talents  which  might  have  been  sym- 
bolized by  a  precious  ring  on  their  finger,  such  as  Pliny  says  was 
worn  by  Pyrrhus,  in  which  nature  had  produced  the  figure  of 
Apollo  and  the  nine  muses.  At  their  birth,  the  gods  of  power 
may  have  descended  to  offer  gifts,  but  it  is  certain  the  gentler 
graces  did  not  attend. 

In  reviewing  the  arts  of  Rome,  as  in  the  corresponding  chapter 
on  the  productions  of  Greece,  we  will  first  consider  their  archi- 
tecture, and  then  the  subordinate  departments  of  plastic  and 
pictorial  works.  Roman,  Greek,  and  Egyptian  architecture  are  to 
be  viewed  as  constituting  but  one  vital  and  continuous  trunk ;  each 
having  grown  out  of  its  predecessor,  and  the  last  destined  to  pro- 
duce yet  another  and,  perchance,  a  nobler  growth. 

The  Romans  were  not  originally  an  art-loving  people,  and  never 
did  any  thing  valuable  of  that  kind  for  themselves.  From  the 
time  of  their  foundation  down  to  b.  c.  167,  they  were  entirely  de- 
pendent upon  the  inhabitants  of  Etruria,  and  upon  the  Greeks  from 
that  time  till  their  dominion  was  past.  They  began  by  conquest, 
and  employed  such  talents  as  they  could  best  subdue.  The  archi- 
tecture which  the  Etruscans  are  supposed  to  have  brought  with 
them  from  Asia  Minor,  derived  thither  from  Assyria,  was  employed 
as  the  most  powerful  principle  of  support,  and  the  most  facile 


ART.  155 

means  of  extension.  By  means  of  tliis,  the  whole  city  was  under- 
mined by  drains,  inclosed  with  cuneiform  stones,  and  immense 
fabrics  rose  on  the  seven  hills.  Vastness  of  size,  and  the  absence 
of  elegance,  characterized  their  monuments  from  the  first.  A  de- 
based  type  of  Doric  was  their  favorite  style  in  the  early  period,  as 
in  the  great  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  whicti  was  adorned  with 
figures  prepared  by  the  Tuscans  in  baked  clay,  or  terra-cotta,  and, 
when  finished,  sent  to  Rome.  The  use  of  the  arch  no  doubt  intro- 
duced a  new  and  valuable  principle  of  construction,  and  of  great 
utility  when  consistently  employed.  But,  unfortunately,  the  Greek 
outlines  were  still  adhered  to  mainly,  and  imposture  from  the  very 
outset  ever  characterized  monumental  art  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman 
race.  False  entablatures  were  fabricated ;  the  arch,  as  a  constructive 
element,  was  concealed ;  and  as  the  real  formation  of  the  building 
could  not  be  shown,  sham  features  and  fanciful  ornaments  were 
multiplied  for  the  vile  ends  of  disguise.  During  the  great  age  of 
Grecian  art,  not  a  single  specimen  of  concave  roofing,  scarcely  a 
sloping  jamb,  was  produced ;  if  any  approach  to  either  was  found, 
it  was  never  in  the  pure  Doric,  but  only  in  the  semi-Pelasgic  Ionic 
order.  It  shows  how  much  more  Rome  was  Etruscan  than  Greece 
Pelasgic,  that  it  was  left  to  that  inartistic  people  to  create  domical 
buildings,  and  to  carry  them  to  the  degree  of  perfection  they  did 
in  their  circular  peristylar  temples,  and  more  especially  in  the  Pan- 
theon. That  edifice,  the  great  master-piece  and  symbol  of  its  age, 
and  which  has  never  been  excelled,  is  at  the  same  time  the  most 
striking  exemplification  of  the  vicious  innovation  made  by  com- 
bining rectilinear  and  circular  forms.  The  Greeks  never  built  round 
temples.  The  choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates,  and  tower  of  the 
Winds,  were  mere  playthings,  produced  at  the  latest  period  of  archi- 
tectural excellence ;  but  even,  these  were  fine  specimens  of  original 
invention  and  truthful  execution.  It  was  not  at  Athens,  but  at 
Rome,  that  architects  endeavored  to  enhance  their  reputation,  by 
secreting  the  real  features  of  their  work. 

But  when  the  arch  is  made  the  life  of  the  whole  building,  stand- 
ing out  in  all  its  boldness  and  majesty,  the  work  is  infinitely  nobler 
than  when  accompanied  by  the  incongruous  Grecian  mask.  The 
original  Etruscans  had  the  independence  so  to  use  the  grand  prin- 
ciple they  were  the  first  properly  to  appreciate,  and  the  creations 


156 


AUGUSTUS. 


of  their  hands  are  of  the  greatest  intrinsic  worth.  Their  roads  and 
bridges,  tombs  and  city  walls,  cloacae  and  tunnels  are  so  extraor- 
dinary that,  after  twenty-five  centuries,  they  remain  unsurpassed 
even  by  their  gigantic  conquerors.  They  drained  marshes,  cultivated 
barren  plains,  and  brought  Italy  from  a  savage  state  to  that  degree 
of  civilization  which  enabled  the  Romans  to  profit  by,  more  than 
the  great  originals  who  prepared  the  field  of  their  first  occupancy, 
and  then  were  displaced.  Such  is  necessarily  the  history  of  human 
progress,  when  excellence  of  a  given  kind  is  made  to  yield  to  some 
other  superior  force,  but  which  in  turn  will  succumb  to  the  same 
law,  and  contribute  to  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number  in 
the  end. 

It  is  interesting  to  reflect  on  the  contrast  which  existed  between 
the  architectural  principle  of  two  great  primordial  people  in  almost 
simultaneous  developement.  At  a  time  when  her  existence  was 
scarcely  known  to  the  refined  republics  of  Greece,  the  barbarian 
state  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  began  to  employ  the  mightiest  of 
mechanical  discoveries,  through  the  means  of  which  vast  spaces 
were  roofed  in  with  stone  or  brick,  while,  through  ignorance  or 
contempt  of  it,  the  most  glorious  temples  of  Pentelic  marble  re- 
mained exposed  to  shower  and  sun,  or  were  imperfectly  sheltered 
by  a  covering  of  wood.  The  sewers  of  Rome  were  a  vast  improve- 
ment in  practical  mechanics  over  the  structures  at  Athens  ;  and  if 
Etruscan  genius  had  been  permitted  to  work  out  completely  its 
own  ideas,  a  simple,  noble,  and  majestic  style  would  doubtless  have 
been  developed.  As  it  was,  their  rudest  works  announced  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  excellence  and  consistency  which  belonged 
not  to  edifices  of  greater  ambition  ;  and  Rome  had  the  honor  of 
transmitting  a  prolific  germ  under  the  westering  sun,  where  it  arose 
and  justly  claimed  to  be  considered  the  noblest  ofispring  of  the 
human  mind. 

When  the  principle  of  mutual  support  was  hit  upon,  and  the 
arch  sprang  self-balanced  from  impost  to  impost,  the  Roman  was 
put  in  possession  of  an  immense  advantage  over  the  restricted  ca- 
pacities of  the  Greek  entablature.  He  was  no  longer  tied  to  the 
width  or  length  of  quarried  blocks,  put  in  vertical  or  horizontal 
positions,  but  could  bend  more  pliant  materials  in  yet  firmer  con- 
struction upward  and  outward  to  an  illimitable  extent.     In  its  use 


ART. 


157 


they  soon  became  tlie  best  builders  the  world  had  ever  seen,  and 
the  worst  architects.  The  magnitude  of  their  great  works,  and 
boldness  of  execution,  the  vastness  of  design  and  mechanical  skill, 
displayed  in  their  existing  monuments,  compel  us  to  admire  the  con- 
structive talent  of  Rome,  as  Greece  taught  us  to  revere  inventive 
genius.  Unyielding  energy  and  graceful  elegance  are  brought 
into  striking  contrast.  On  the  one  hand,  we  behold  the  same  iron 
greatness,  indomitable  will,  and  union  of  physical  with  moral  vigor, 
combined  with  indiflference  to  intellectual  beauty,  which  bent  alike 
the  material  and  political  world  beneath  the  yoke  of  old  Rome. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Grecian  temple  shines  the  purest  product 
of  mind,  perfect  in  symmetry,  chaste  in  ornament,  and  resplendent 
with  all  the  attractions  of  immortal  youth.  The  best  and  only  satis- 
factory works  of  the  Romans  are  those  we  usually  classify  under 
the  head  of  engineering ;  such  as  roads,  bridges,  aqueducts,  and 
fortifications,  and  these  are  projected  on  a  scale,  and  executed  with 
a  solidity,  worthy  of  the  greatness  of  their  empire.  But  in  archi- 
tecture properly  so  called,  nothing  of  their  creation  is  \o  be  ad- 
mired but  the  colossal  mass,  and  its  constructive  extravagance. 

As  the  idea  of  the  beautiful  is  a  principle  divinely  positive  in  the 
arts  and  life  of  the  Greeks,  so  greatness  defined  everything  in  the 
Roman  contest  for  supremacy,  and  was  the  central  point  around 
which  developed  all  the  historical  impressiveness  of  their  character. 
Of  all  arts  architecture  most  admits  of  artificial  beauty,  which  they 
could  not  confer,  and  therefore  they  made  it  only  great.  Chaste 
elegance,  that  genuine  sense  of  the  artist,  was  never  born  in  the 
Roman  mind ;  but  they  possessed  uncommon  force  of  nature,  and 
best  succeeded  in  stamping  on  their  fabrics  the  air  of  undaunted 
firmness  in  the  struggle  of  rude  reality.  The  Roman  style  is  rug- 
ged even  to  uncouthness,^  but  it  has  the  redeeming  quality  of  actu- 
ally speaking  the  mind  of  its  authors,  the  whole  course  of  whose 
history  was  indomitable  will.  The  conquest  of  the  world,  and  not 
the  perfection  of  art,  was  their  destiny ;  not  the  sudden  achieve- 
ment of  a  few  assaults,  the  results  of  which  should  perish  with  their 
fortunate  leaders,  but  the  gradual  advance  of  a  single  one,  through 
many  champions,  destined  through  all  vicissitudes  to  universal  em- 
pire. From  the  first  moment  Rome  appears  on  the  pohtical  stage,  this 
one  great  mission  is  manifest  in  all  her  action  and  arts.  Never 


158 


AUGUSTUS. 


was  greatness  more  truly  national,  but  it  was  in  diametrical  contrast 
to  the  glory  of  the  Grecian  race.  Individuals  stood  forth  among 
the  latter,  in  every  separate  department  of  intellectual  proficiency, 
which  rendered  each  a  distinct  model ;  but  at  Rome,  with  a  longer 
list  of  great  men  than  any  other  nation,  their  personal  being  is  lost 
in  that  of  the  state.  Camillus,  Curius,  and  Scipio  had  no  aim  or 
aspiration  of  their  own  ;  they  existed  but  to  fortify  and  extend  the 
commonwealth  in  their  own  generation,  and  to  transmit  the  hke 
calling  to  their  successors.  Rome  only  had  a  personal  existence  ; 
her  bravest  children  might  perish,  but  herself,  the  eternal,  was  un- 
affected ;  others,  to  whose  fortunes  she  was  equally  indifferent, 
would  arise  to  take  their  places  in  the  continuous  battle  of  seven 
centuries  to  attain  the  subjugation  of  the  world.  It  was  for  Rome 
alone  of  all  nations  to  return  thanks  to  a  vanquished  general  for 
not  having  despaired  of  the  republic.  She  never  could  produce 
or  appreciate  mere  art  and  beauty,  and  whatever  of  elegant  refine- 
ment the  Augustan  age  finally  possessed  was  a  borrowed  gift  which 
the  holders  knew  not  how  to  exercise. 

Of  those  states  which  were  grouped  around  the  Mediterranean 
sea,  Greece  was  certainly  the  intellectual  mistress ;  but  the  Romans, 
by  situation  and  race,  inherited  from  them  all  whatever  had  before 
been  accumulated  in  Asia  and  Africa,  amalgamated  the  diversified 
elements  into  one  empire  of  brute  force,  and  thus  opened  the  way 
for  a  more  glorious  progress.  As  a  pohtical  phenomenon  she 
stood  alone,  an  empire  aggregated  out  of  discordant  materials ;  not 
a  mere  conquest,  like  that  of  Alexander,  to  fall  to  pieces  at  the 
death  of  him  who  created  it,  but  a  coerced  combination,  substanti- 
ated by  steadiness  of  purpose,  and  energy  in  administration,  that 
half  awed,  half  conciliated,  its  subjects  in  their  bonds,  and  which 
caused  the  empire,  externally,  to  cohere  long  after  its  heart  had 
become  corrupt,  and  the  system  was  rotten  to  the  core.  The 
wealth  of  Rome  could  purchase,  and  her  power  could  compel,  the 
arts  of  conquered  nations ;  and  her  political  relations  enabled  her 
to  accumulate  in  the  metropolis  those  treasures  which  purer  hands 
had  created,  and  which  her  love  of  ostentation  rendered  it  desirable 
she  should  possess.  But  we  believe  there  is  not  extant  one  single 
passage  of  a  Roman  author,  that  shows  a  knowledge  of  what  true 
art  is,  or  what  ai'e  its  legitimate  uses.    From  the  fall  of*  Carthage 


ART. 


159 


to  the  age  of  Constantine,  not  one  general  effort  to  achieve  a  noble 
end  dignifies  the  annals  of  that  belligerent  people ;  but  sickening 
scenes  of  domineering  vice  succeed  each  other,  till  the  mind  shrinks 
from  the  revolting  picture.  As  long  as  they  could  live  in  idleness, 
or  struggle  in  battle,  as  long  as  the  streets  were  filled  with  pageants, 
and  amphitheatres  reeked  with  martyr-blood,  they  cared  not  what 
new  tribe  was  butchered  by  their  master,  or  how  the  so-called  lib- 
erties of  Rome  were  trampled  upon.  It  is  vain  to  expect  beautiful 
art  to  flourish  under  such  auspices.  One  shudders  at  the  thought 
that  those  servile,  bloody  hands  could  fashion  forms  of  representa- 
tive excellence,  or  that  minds  which  revelled  in  such  scenes  could 
admire  its  creations  when  exhibited  before  them. 

In  attempting  to  estimate  correctly  the  architecture  of  Rome,  or 
any  of  her  correlative  arts,  we  must  apply  a  mode  of  criticism 
which  is  entirely  inapplicable  to  those  styles  of  which  we  have 
hitherto  treated.  In  Greece,  we  can  contemplate  an  artistic  work 
with  the  same  unmingled  delight  we  feel  when  studying,  a  work  of 
nature ;  but,  in  Rome,  there  is  no  one  building  on  which  we  look 
with  unquahfied  pleasiire,  none  in  which  imperfections  are  not  ob- 
vious to  the  most  uncritical  eye.  In  every  instance,  the  destroying 
hand  of  time  has  been  merciful,  in  hiding  defects,  and  conceaHng 
vulgarities,  so  that  the  chief  attractions  that  remain  are  the  result 
of  his  hallowing  touch,  and  the  halo  of  association  which  spreads 
around  excrescences  that,  in  their  nakedness,  would  shock  and  dis- 
gust us.  When  their  artists  attempted  an  exalted  range  of  inven- 
tion, they  wandered  into  exaggerated  forms  of  Titanic  strength,  and 
here  their  loftiest  flight  was  terminated.  They  were  blinded  to 
the  path  of  spiritual  beauty,  and  in  striving  to  storm  heaven,  and 
.  compel  divinity,  they  failed  in  all  their  presumptuous  endeavors. 
That  which  was  born  and  slowly  nurtured  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  and  the  Euphrates,  suddenly  sprang  into  its  manhood  of 
superlative  worth  in  Greece,  and  perished  at  Rome  in  decrepitude 
and  crime. 

Under  the  reign  of  the  first  Tarquin,  Rome  was  fortified,  cleansed, 
and  somewhat  embellished.  The  low  grounds  about  the  Forum 
were  drained,  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  second  Tarquin  to 
construct  that  Cloaca  Maxima,  which  was  every  way  a  masterly 
work.  Servius  Tullius  enlarged  the  city,  and  completed  the  temple 


160 


AUGUSTUS. 


of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  b.c.  508.  As  the  name  imports,  it  stood  on 
the  Mods  Capitolinus,  and  embraced  four  acres  of  ground.  It  was 
twice  destroyed,  and  twice  rebuilt  on  the  same  foundation,  by  Ves- 
pasian, and  Domitian.  It  is  impossible  now  to  trace  the  architec- 
ture of  the  Romans  during  the  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  years 
which  transpired  between  the  time  of  their  last  king,  and  the  sub- 
jugation of  Greece  by  that  people,  in  the  year  b.c.  145.  But 
many  of  their  grandest  structures  yet  remain,  and  there  is  no  great 
difficulty  in  estimating  their  compairative  value. 

The  Doric  order  of  the  Greeks  had  degenerated  sadly  in  style 
and  design,  before  the  Romans  began  to  build ;  besides,  it  was  ut- 
terly unsuited  to  their  use,  since  they  had  neither  sculpture  nor 
painting  with  which  it  should  be  completed  and  adorned.  But  it 
was  in  keeping  with  their  inartistic  character  to  adopt  what  they 
could  not  comprehend,  and  yet  further  degrade  its  already  attenu- 
ated columns  into  a  closer  resemblance  to  the  wooden  posts  of 
their  Etruscan  teachers.  No  specimen  of  the  Ionic  order  probably 
existed  in  Italy,  anterior  to  the  epoch  of  Roman  superiority,  and 
the  imitation  of  it  was,  therefore,  not  attempted  till  a  late  period. 
In  the  times  of  imperial  voluptuousness,  however,  they  did  use  it  to 
some  extent,  and  succeeded  in  degrading  that  delicate  type  of  art 
more  grossly  even  than  they  did  the  sturdy  Doric.  Nothing  could 
be  more  lean  and  ungraceful  than  the  Ionic  order  became  in  the 
hands  of  Roman  builders,  who,  having  no  skill  of  their  own  as 
architects,  were  successful  only  in  defacing  what  departed  genius 
had  produced. 

One  of  the  first  things  the  Romans  borrowed  from  Greece  was 
their  Corinthian  order ;  but  we  neither  know  when  it  was  intro- 
duced into  Rome,  nor  can  we  trace  its  history  from  the  time  it  was 
lost  under  Alexander  the  Great,  during  the  three  hundred  years 
that  transpired  before  its  reappearance  in  the  age  of  Augustus.  To 
the  purposes  of  a  people  who  were  as  unable  to  appreciate  as  to 
execute  the  Doric,  or  even  the  lighter,  but  not  less  elegant,  Ionic, 
the  richness  of  the  Corinthian  was  admirably  adapted.  The  plan 
of  a  building,  after  that  order,  required  little  thought,  and  its  exe- 
cution necessitated  still  less.  No  delicate  spirals,  sculpture,  or 
painting,  was  requisite,  but  every  thing  was  purely  mechanical,  and 
such  as  any  stone-mason  could  execute.    The  pillars  could  be 


ART. 


161 


lengthened,  or  shortened,  at  will,  the  intercolumniatious  made  wide 
or  narrow,  and  be  placed  at  angles,  or  used  in  interiors  with  equal 
facility.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  this  order  became  a  favorite 
with  the  Romans ;  and  though  it  was  brought  from  Greece,  and  at 
first  executed  by  imported  Attic  genius,  they  so  modified  its  fea- 
tures as  to  give  them  a  thoroughly  Roman  aspect,  and  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Jupiter  Stator  left  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  monumental 
art  Rome  ever  produced.  From  bad  to  worse  they  proceeded,  and 
blended  their  degraded  Ionic,  or  Corinthian  styles,  into  the  hide- 
ousness  of  their  Composite  order.  For  them  to  make  one  harmoni- 
ous whole  out  of  two  realms  of  artistic  excellence,  was  riot  to  be 
expected ;  they  could  only  combine,  without  uniting,  and  join  in- 
congruous parts,  while  not  one  joint  was  concealed.  To  fit  two 
into  one,  as  the  Greeks  had  elaborated  one  out  of  two,  required  in- 
vention and  taste,  of  which  the  Romans  had  neither ;  therefore,  in 
all  their  architecture,  they  have  left  some  grand  works  of  talent, 
but  not  one  monument  that  attests  the  presence  of  creative  and 
delicate  genius. 

Rome  arrived  at  the  zenith  of  architectural  science,  such  as  it 
was,  under  the  reign  of  Augustus,  as  Athens  attained  infinitely  su- 
perior honors  under  Pericles.  But,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Trajan,  not  one  epoch  after  that  great  exponent  of  his  age  was 
marked  by  structural  magnificence  erected  by  Romans.  When 
Virgil,  Homer,  Cicero,  and  Livy,  were  publishing  their  works,  the 
metropolis  was  graced  with  a  number  of  gorgeous  temples ;  but 
the  decline  of  letters  and  arts  soon  followed,  and  architecture,  espe- 
cially, sunk  to  the  last  degree. 

The  Parthenon  and  the  Pantheon,  those  two  great  t3rpes  of  their 
respective  ages,  might  be  compared  on  the  score  of  magnificence,  but 
they  were  utterly  devoid  of  resemblance  as  masterpieces  of  art.  The 
quadrangular  portico  of  the  latter  may  be  presumed  to  have  been 
intended  to  signify  the  union  of  architectural  powers ;  without  some 
such  reason  the  rectilinear  front  would  not  have  been  stuck  before 
a  circular  edifice,  and  the  egregious  anomaly  can  be  accounted  for 
on  no  more  plausible  ground.  That  Rome  bore  the  arts,  as  she  did 
the  spoils,  and  even  the  gods  of  conquered  nations,  to  her  own 
haughty  abode,  is  true ;  but  it  is  not  less  evident  that  she  was  desti- 
tute of  all  the  arts  and  elegances  of  high  civilization  till  she  imported 


162 


AUGUSTUS. 


them  from  Greece,  and  that  she  had  neither  definite  principles,  nor 
correct  artistic  conceptions,  of  her  own. 

The  celebrated  temple  of  all  the  gods  to  which  we  have  just 
referred,  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  in  the  time  of  the  RepubHc, 
and  that  the  portico  was  appended  a.  d.  14,  by  Agrippa.  Of  all 
the  temples  of  the  Romans,  the  Pantheon  is  by  far  the  most  original 
and  typical,  and  as  a  rotunda  it  is  unmatched  in  the  ancient  world. 
There  is  a  simplicity  about  its  proportions,  the  height  being  exactly 
equal  to  the  width,  and  in  the  mode  by  which  it  is  lighted  through 
a  single  aperture  in  the  roof,  which  gives  it  a  character  of  grandeur 
that  redeems  the  clumsiness  of  detail,  which  would  nearly  spoil 
any  edifice  less  grand  in  conception.  That  majestic  dome  is  the 
only  Roman  structure  extant  that  has  power  to  carry  the  mind 
beyond  the  imperial  mass  of  crime  out  of  which  tower  the  splendors 
of  the  Augustan  age,  and  tells  us  of  that  grand  old  Republic  whose 
glory  elicited  the  worth  and  illuminated  the  figures  of  subsequent 
histoiy.. 

Vespasian  and  his  son  Titus  cumbered  the  city,  and  astonished 
the  world  by  such  masses  of  building  in  amphitheatres  and  baths 
as  will  probably  never  again  be  reared.  The  Coliseum,  so  named, 
according  to  some,  from  its  gigantic  dimensions,  but  in  the  more 
probable  opinion  of  others,  from  its  proximity  to  a  colossal  statue 
of  Nero,  is  said  to  have  seated  109,000  persons  at  one  time,  to  \'iew 
at  their  ease  the  bloody  sports  of  the  arena.  The  probability  of 
this  astonishing  fact  will  appear  not  only  from  its  enormous  height 
and  great  number  of  ascending  stages,  but  especially  from  the  fact 
that  it  covers  nearly  six  acres  of  gi'ound.  As  the  Pantheon  was 
the  type  of  the  first  half  of  the  Augustan  age,  so  does  the  Coliseum 
represent  the  later  period,  and  was  a  fit  arena  for  the  degenerate 
progeny  of  a  brute.  It  is  the  best  type  of  the  Roman  style,  con- 
taining at  once  all  its  beauties  and  defects.  In  size  and  splendor, 
it  comported  with  the  empire  at  its  culminating  height,  and  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  built  rendered  it  the  favorite  building  of 
the  metropolitan  city  in  the  days  of  its  greatest  glory.  Even  now 
its  ruins  appear  as  eternal  as  the  Roman  name,  and  present  us  a 
more  adequate  picture  of  the  times  in  which  they  stood  unimpaired 
than  the  pages  of  Livy  or  Tacitus.  Despite  our  better  judgment, 
they  awe  us  into  admiration  of  the  greatness  of  that  martial  people, 


AKT. 


163 


thougli,  in  fact,  few  buildings  were  ever  more  tasteless  in  design,  or 
more  faulty  in  execution. 

Standing  within  that  immense  fabric,  one  cannot  but  feel  that 
Rome,  as  mistress  of  the  world,  with  unlimited  wealth  and  power, 
and  a  proud  feeling  of  conscious  pre-eminence,  beyond  all  other 
nations  had  the  gi'eatest  means  of  cultivating  the  liberal  arts.  On 
the  foundation  laid  in  Greece,  she  might  have  built  models  of  useful- 
ness for  the  world  to  a  boundless  extent ;  but,  as  it  was,  she  only 
altered  what  she  had  neither  the  capacity  nor  disposition  to  improve, 
and  advanced  only  in  the  path  of  degradation  till  the  lowest  depth 
was  reached. 

The  Marmertine  prison,  begun  by  Ancus  Martins,  and  completed 
by  Servius  Tullius,  yet  remains  nearly  perfect,  and  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  primitive  masonry.  In  the  time  of  the  Republic,  the 
Appian  road,  used  to  this  day,  was  commenced  by  Appius  Claudius 
Csecus.  The  Forums  of  Julius  Caesar,  of  Augustus,  of  Nerva,  and 
of  Ti'ajan,  were  adorned  by  many  of  the  noblest  structures  in  Rome. 
But  the  most  useful  works  were  exterior  to  the  city,  such  as  those 
wonderful  engineering  structures,  the  aqueducts.  Of  these,  the 
Appian,  Martian,  and  Claudian  were  most  celebrated.  The  last- 
mentioned,  completed  by  the  emperor  Claudius,  a.  d.  51,  and  yet 
in  existence,  is  forty-six  miles  in  length ;  for  thirty-six,  it  runs  under 
ground ;  and  a  series  of  lofty  arches,  six  miles  in  length,  forms  a 
noble  feature  in  the  Campagna,  still  supplying  the  city  with  pure 
water.  That  commenced  by  Quintus  Martins,  b.  c.  145,  was  also 
an  astonishing  undertaking,  upwards  of  sixty  miles  in  length,  com- 
prising three  separate  channels  conveying  water  from  different 
sources,  and  partly  carried  on  an  arcade  of  seven  thousand  arches, 
seventy  feet  in  height.  Neither  were  these  colossal  works  confined 
to  the  seat  of  empire  alone,  but  were  executed  in  the  remoter  West 
as  well,  as  at  Segovia,  Metz,  and  Nimes.  As  one  sees  this  vast 
supply  of  pure  water  still  poured  from  the  Sabine  hills  through  the 
ancient  aqueducts,  he  feels  how  superior  were  the  republican  con- 
tributions to  the  true  greatness  of  Rome,  compared  with  all  the 
imperial  and  later  works. 

It  should  be  particularly  observed  that  the  Romans  emulated 
only  the  pictorial  half  of  Greek  design ;  and  this  they  greatly 
increased,  regarding  the  refinements  of  propriety  as  virtues  too 


164 


AUGUSTUS. 


insipid  to  be  admired.  They  were  evidently  pleased  with  the 
columnar  ordinance  of  a  Greek  temple,  but  had  no  affinity  with  the 
instinctive  sense  of  propriety  so  prominent  in  Athenian  architects, 
and  could  not  understand  the  true  purpose  of  a  colonnade.  They 
did  not  look  at  pillars,  entablatures,  and  pediments  as  expressions, 
but  simply  as  physical  substances,  which  in  their  combinations 
formed  a  picturesque  object,  which  could  be  used  in  a  scenic  display 
of  sensual  magnificence.  Impelled  by  an  insane  passion  for  deco- 
ration, the  architects  of  the  Augustan  age  emblazoned  the  imperial 
city  with  a  thousand  monumental  errors  which  in  due  time  sub- 
sided into  effete  grossness,  and  became  the  compost  to  nourish  an 
entirely  new  and  superior  type  of  art.  Such  is  the  wisdom  and 
goodness  of  Providence ! 

Another  class  of  national  monuments  clearly  indicate  how  the 
Romans  were  difierenced  from  the  Greeks.  The  history  of  the 
latter  speaks  of  valor,  power,  and  conquests,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
former  people.  Where  are  her  architectural  monuments  of  con- 
quered countries  and  captured  spoils  ?  She  had  them,  but  they 
were  mere  temporary  trophies  constructed  of  wood.  With  glorious 
Greece,  the  day  of  triumph  was  the  day  of  magnanimity,  and  in 
the  presence  of  great  art,  which  ought  never  to  be  desecrated  in 
the  forms  of  self  glory,  she  was  willing  to  let  the  songs  of  victory 
dwindle  speedily  into  silence.  But  the  Romans  were  actuated  by 
entirely  opposite  feelings.  In  a  Greek  portico  columns  are  native 
to  the  occasion  as  the  flower  to  its  parent  soil ;  but  in  a  triumphal 
arch  as  constructed  by  the  Romans,  the  columns  support  nothing 
that  is  necessary,  nor  are  they  in  the  slightest  degree  constructive, 
but  are  forced  in  with  every  thing  else  to  typify  national  ostentation. 
Outward  symbols,  and  inner  panels  of  bas-relief  cut  in  precious 
marbles,  as  uncouthly  executed  as  the  architectural  members,  illus- 
trate the  triumphal  procession  of  a  conqueror,  leading  vanquished 
captives  in  chains.  K  you  would  clearly  read  the  lessons  of  art, 
that  most  legible  commentary  op  national  character,  ascend  rever- 
ently the  Propylaeum  in  presence  of  the  sculptured  Parthenon,  and 
then  go  scan  the  monstrous  arches  of  Titus,  Septimus  Severus,  and 
Constantine. 

The  final  expression  of  eastern  beauty  was  embodied  in  the  im- 
mense temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus.     Ctesiphon  designed  it  about 


ART. 


165 


B.  c.  366,  all  the  Asiatic  colonies  of  Greece  contributing  to  the  ex- 
pense of  its  erection.  It  was  four  hundred  years  in  progress,  and  was 
burned  by  Eratostratus,  with  the  object  of  immortalizing  his  name, 
on  the  same  night  that  Alexander  was  born.  Then  began  the  age 
of  martial  greatness  and  artistic  deterioration  which  ended  not  till 
Christianity  came  to  gaze  on  the  desecrated  relics  of  Judea  at  Rome, 
and  passed  yet  further  west  through  the  arches  of  paganism  to 
originate  more  aspiring  and  glorious  shines. 

The  triumphal  monuments  raised  to  commemorate  the  conquests 
of  Titus,  Trajan,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Severus,  and  Constantine,  toge- 
ther with  the  Trajan,  Antonine,  and  Theodosian  columns,  bear 
the  principal  compositions  of  national  sculpture ;  and  these,  it  is 
believed,  were  mostly  executed  by  Greeks.  The  coerced  hand 
must  perform  its  task,  and  the  results  were  made  to  breathe  the 
spirit  of  war,  conquest,  and  universal  dominion.  But  in  vain  do 
we  search  for  one  graceful  figure  or  attractive  charm.  They  are 
mere  military  bulletins  carved  in  stone,  petrified  paragraphs  of  os- 
tentatious success,  gross  in  conception,  and  pernicious  in  sentiment. 
They  owe  no  inspiration  to  the  muses,  and  can  claim  neither  epic 
dignity  nor  dramatic  force.  The  principal  groups  are  mobs  of 
Romans,  as  insensible  to  beauty  as  the  armor  they  bear,  and  deal- 
ing death  to  their  equally  barbarian  foes,  or  driving  them  in  chains 
to  the  mount  Capitoline.  Subjects  are  often  chosen  still  more 
unfit  for  art,  such  as  soldiers  felling  timber,  carrying  rubbish,  driv- 
ing piles,  building  walls,  working  battering-rams,  or  dragging 
\ictims  to  mortal  torture.  The  expression  of  their  heads  is  so 
ferocious  and  savage,  as  to  excite  the  deepest  compassion  for  the 
-  weaker  combatants  who  might  fall  into  their  hands. 

If  we  would  know  the  source  of  all  Roman  art,  plastic  as  well 
as  monumental,  we  must  visit  the  shores  of  venerable  and  plun- 
dered Hellas,  with  Pausanias  and  Strabo  for  our  guides.  Despite 
desolating  domestic  wars,the  inroads  of  barbarian  hordes,  and  the 
hostilities  of  Macedonian  and  Roman  conquerors,  innumerable  re- 
mains of  ancient  art  are  still  there  to  be  found.  But,  as  Cicera 
says,  that  at  Syracuse,  after  the  temples  had  been  plundered  by 
the  hand  of  Verres,  those  who  guided  travellers  showed  them  not 
what  still  existed  there,  but  enumerated  what  had  been  taken 
away,  so  the  contemplation  of  what  had  been  preserved  from  those 


166 


AUGUSTUS. 


times,  and  what  has  since  been  brought  to  light,  reminds  us  of  the 
infinitely  greater  affluence  which,  in  the  age  of  bloom  and  vigor, 
had  adorned  the  plains  and  glorified  the  cities  of  Greece.  Mum- 
mius  completed  the  conquest  of  that  land  b.  c.  146,  the  same 
year  that  Carthage  was  razed  to  the  ground,  and  plundered  more 
works  of  art  than  all  his  predecessors  put  together.  He  destroyed 
many  Avorks  through  ignorance,  and  his  soldiers  were  seen  playing 
at  dice  upon  one  of  the  most  precious  pictures  of  Aristides. 
When  Octavius  won  the  victory  at  Actium,  he  enlarged  the  tem- 
ple of  Apollo  upon  that  promontory,  and  expressed  his  gratitude  by 
dedicating  the  statue  of  Apollo,  by  Scopas,  in  a  temple  at  Rome, 
on  the  Palatine  hill.  His  declaration  that  he  had  found  Rome 
of  brick,  and  would  leave  it  of  marble,  Augustus  probably  hoped 
to  realize  after  that  mode  of  procedure.  Nero  threw  down  the 
statues  of  victors  in  Greece  out  of  envy,  and  illustrated  his  own 
taste  by  gilding  a  statue  of  Alexander,  by  Lysippus.  Imperial 
vanity  and  infamous  extravagance  may  be  further  estimated  by  his 
having  had  his  portrait  painted  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high, 
while  he  wrested  five  hundred  statues  from  Delphi  alone,  to  adorn 
his  Golden  House.  The  amount  of  sculpture  accumulated  at 
Rome  must  have  been  immense.  Marcus  Scaurus  decorated  his 
temporary  theatre  with  three  thousand  statues.  Two  thousand  were 
taken  from  the  Volscians ;  Lucullus  captured  many ;  and,  after  the 
conquest  of  Acaia,  Mummius  filled  the  city.  *  Three  thousand 
were  added  from  Rhodes,  and  not  fewer  from  Olympia,  beside  a  multi- 
tude from  Delphi  and  Athens.  The  imperial  palaces  and  baths  of 
Dioclesian  and  Caracalla,  mausolea  of  Augustus,  and  of  Hadrian, 
were  stored  with  vast  treasures  stolen  from  rightful  proprietors,  or 
executed  by  inferior  sculptors,  beside  rows  of  plastic  art  which 
lined  the  Flaminian  way.  But  neither  their  abundance  nor  mag- 
nificence could  produce  that  vivid  impression  on  the  refined  which 
never  failed  to  result  from  the  study  of  pure  taste  and  skill  in  their 
native  home. 

Literature  and  art  were  never  primary  pursuits  with  the  Romans, 
but  secondary  only  and  subordinate,  adopted  without  fervor,  and 
employed  for  their  one  great  intent,  the  extension  and  consolidation 
of  a  martial  empire.  The  honors  which  Greece  bestowed  on  artists 
and  authors,  Rome  gave  only  to  soldiers  of  high  or  low  degi'ee. 


ART.  16T 

The  former  was  forced  into  a  provincial  relation  to  the  latter,  but 
Rome  was  never  more  tlian  a  mental  and  artistic  colony  to  the 
intellectual  people  thus  reduced  to  political  subjection.  Grecian 
invention  continued  its  admirable  productions  under  the  emperors 
of  the  new  West,  and  at  the  same  time  furnished  them  literature, 
science,  philosophy,  religion,  and  the  arts.  Menelaus  and  Patro- 
cles,  Antigone  and  Haemon,  Psetus  and  Ama,  Orestes  and  Electra, 
the  Toro  Farnese,  and  Laocoon,  were  sculptured  between  the  mid- 
dle of  the  Roman  Republic  and  the  last  of  the  Csesars.  Before  the 
lowest  debasement  of  art  had  arrived,  some  few  tolerable  basso- 
relievos  were  also  produced  from  Homer  and  the  ancient  trage- 
dians, and  were  among  the  latest  creations  of  free  and  legitimate 
art.  Then  came  the  cumbrous  pediments,  imperial  statues,  consular 
portraits,  gems  and  coins,  wrought  by  the  dependent  Greek,  to  feed 
the  impious  ambition  or  ignorant  vanity  of  his  insolent  master 
during  the  latter  ferocities  of  the  empire. 

When  the  great  depositories  of  art  in  Greece  and  her  western 
colonies  fell  under  the  control  of  the  Romans,  the  villas  of  the  rich 
in  the  metropolis  and  chief  cities  were  converted  into  great  halls  of 
art.  Earlier,  martial  Rome,  which,  according  to  the  expression  of 
Plutarch,  knew  no  ornaments  but  arms  and  spoils,  furnished  to  the 
unwarlike  and  luxurious  spectators  no  pleasing  or  unalarming  spec- 
tacle. "  To  melt  brass,  and  breathe  into  it  the  soul  of  art,  or  to 
create  living  forms  in  marble,"  the  Roman  had  not  learned.  "His 
art  was  government  and  war,"  Etrurian  artists  had  furnished  him 
with  what  religion  required,  of  wood  or  clay,  sufficient  for  all 
the  devotional  sensibility  he  possessed.  But  after  Marcellus  had 
turned  the  rude  minds  of  the  citizens  to  the  admiration  of  the 
works  he  obtained  by  conquest  over  Syracuse,  all  military  leaders 
became  anxious  to  add  splendor  to  their  triumphs  by  trophies  of  art. 
Thus,  in  the  course  of  a  century,  most  of  the  finest  art  extant  tra- 
veled to  Rome,  at  first  a  metropolitan  decoration,  but  anon,  an 
ambitious  ornament  to  private  dwellings.  At  length,  the  common 
soldier  learned  to  despise  the  temples  of  the  gods ;  to  confound 
what  was  sacred  with  what  was  profane ;  to  covet  fine  sculptures 
and  rich  furniture,  and  to  nourish  a  mercenary  ambition,  which 
became  a  new  pretext  for  violence  in  war,  and  extravagance  in 
peace.    As  in  the  Republic,  Lucullus  and  others  regarded  the 


168 


AUGUSTUS. 


masterpieces  of  the  Greeks  as  the  fairest  embellishments  of  their 
rural  mansions,  so  the  imperial  Caesars  grasped  at  all  within  reach, 
and  never  had  enough.  Soon  there  dwelt  in  Rome  as  many  statues 
as  men ;  and  the  treasures  disinterred  in  modern  times  at  Tibur 
and  Tusculum,  on  the  Alban  Mount,  at  Antium,  and  elsewhere  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  original  seat  of  power,  indicate  that  the 
surrounding  region  was  not  less  rich  than  the  capital  itself.  But  a 
profound  sense  of  art  was  never  created  at  Rome,  and,  notwith- 
standing all  the  variety  of  excellence  they  brought  together  from 
afar,  not  one  distinguished  Roman  artist  lives  on  the  record  of 
fame. 

History  testifies  that  the  carrying  away  works  of  art  appeared  as 
robbery  of  sanctuaries  in  mythological  times,  as  base  plundering  in 
the  Persian  invasions,  and  to  be  excused  only  on  the  score  of  pecu- 
niary want  in  the  Phocian  war.  But  under  the  Romans,  this 
became  a  regular  recompense,  which  they  appropriated  on  account 
of  their  victories.  For  instance,  when  Corinth  was  destroyed  by 
the  army  under  Lucius  Mummius,  its  most  precious  treasure  of 
sculptures  and  paintings  was  preserved.  These  he  resolved  to  send 
to  Rome ;  but  the  orders  which  he  issued  on  the  occasion  curiously 
illustrate  the  artistic  taste  and  capacities  of  the  age.  "  If  any  of 
these  spoils,"  he  said  to  those  who  were  to  transport  them,  "  be  lost 
or  injured,  you  shall  repair  or  replace  them  at  your  own  expense." 
The  successors  of  Augustus  sometimes  patronized  sculpture,  but  no 
native  merit  was  produced.  Nero,  somewhat  educated  in  art  by 
his  tutor,  Seneca,  ordered  a  statue  of  himself,  a  hundred  and  ten 
feet  high,  to  be  cast  by  Zenodorus,  and  virtually  stole  at  one  time 
five  hundred  statues  from  Delphi,  among  which,  as  is  supposed, 
were  the  Apollo  Belvidere  and  Fighting  Gladiator.  According  to 
"Winklemann,  the  encouragement  which  the  Antonines  gave  to  the 
arts  was  only  that  apparent  revivescence  which  is  the  precursor  of 
death.  Under  the  brutal  Commodus,  the  arts,  which  the  school  of 
Adrian  had  freely  nourished,  sunk,  like  a  river  which  is  lost  in  a 
subterranean  channel,  to  rise  again  further  on  with  a  wider  and 
richer  flow. 

Down  even  to  the  reigns  of  Julian  and  Theodosius,  Greek  artists 
continued  to  repair  to  their  mother  country  to  copy  the  two  great 
masterpieces  of  Phidias,  his  Jupiter  at  Elis,  and  his  Minerva  at 


ART.  169 

Athens.  And  it  is  pleasing  to  see  how  Horace  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  ancient  art,  when  he  declared  to  his  friend  Censorinus  that 
he  would  give  him  all  the  riches  of  the  world,  provided  he  had  but 
the  chief  productions  of  Parrhasius  and  Scopas.  Cicero  also 
entered  into  like  feelings,  when  he  desired  to  collect  together  the 
works  of  Greek  artists,  declaring  that  this  was  "his  greatest 
delight."  He  tells  his  friend  Atticus  that  if  he  had  but  his  collec- 
tion he  should  exceed  Crassus  in  riches,  and  would  despise  all  the 
villas  and  territories  that  might  be  offered  to  him.  The  real  love 
of  art  in  the  vain  orator,  however,  was  very  moderate,  as  he  was 
afraid  to  be  held  by  the  judges  as  a  connoisseur. 

The  public  games  of  Greece  were  peaceful  and  intellectual, 
adapted  as  much  to  invigorate  moral  strength  as  to  develop  manly 
beauty.  Those  of  Rome  were  exhibitions,  not  of  mental,  but  of 
physical  energy,  and  were  both  sanguinary  and  brutalizing.  The 
former  were  often  theatrical  to  an  exalted  degree,  but  never  amphi- 
theatrical,  as  was  always  the  case  with  the  latter.  The  tragic  feel- 
ing of  Greece  is  represented  by  the  sculptured  grief  of  Niobe,  that 
of  Rome  by  the  death-struggles  which  distort  the  features  and 
muscles  of  Laocoon.  The  latter  work,  together  with  the  Tauro 
Famese,  the  Dying  Gladiator,  the  Gladiator  of  Agesias,  and  several 
kindred  works,  were  all  executed  in  the  Augustan  age,  some  of 
them  at  a  late  period.  The  Meleager  and  Mercury  of  the  Vatican, 
the  Venus  of  Capua,  and  the  Ludovisi  Mars,  must  also  be  regarded 
as  the  productions  of  Greek  art,  so  modified  as  to  please  Roman 
taste.  What  a  radical  change  was  wrought  in  sculpture,  in  its 
westward  progress,  is  best  exemplified  in  the  colossal  Nile  and 
Tiber  of  the  Vatican  and  Louvi'e.  It  is  obvious  that  these  repre- 
sentations of  river-gods  are  based  on  that  original  Greek  type 
which  was  so  nobly  embodied  in  the  Bissus  of  the  Parthenon ;  the 
general  reclining  attitude  is  the  same,  but  the  whole  motive  of  the 
art  is  altered ;  new  symbols  and  accessories  are  added,  to  express 
an  inferior  idea  in  more  copious  but  less  eloquent  language.  The 
same  general  statement  applies  to  the  numerous  allegorical  figures 
which  are  preserved  in  Italian  galleries,  with  the  collateral  illustra- 
tion of  Roman  coins. 

Augustan  art  was  formed  from  Greek  models,  in  the  same  time 
and  mode  as  Augustan  literature,  with  one  important  exception. 

8 


170 


AUGUSTUS. 


The  latter  was  engrafted  on  an  original  stock  of  ballad -poetry,  tho 
process  of  adaptation  being  tlieir  own  work ;  but  Greek  art  was 
transferred  rather  than  engrafted,  the  cultivation  of  the  exotic  being 
entrusted  to  strangers  and  hirelings.  Augustan  letters  were  formed 
by  the  Romans  themselves,  Augustan  sculptures  by  Greek  artists 
working  under  Roman  dictation.  The  monuments  of  Rome  afford 
the  best  examples  on  a  great  scale  of  the  historic  style  of  sculpture 
peculiar  to  that  people,  which  is  valuable  in  reference  to  their  por- 
trait art,  a  collateral  department,  such  as  biography  is  to  general 
history.  The  series  of  busts  in  the  Vatican,  the  Capitol,  the  Museo 
-  Borbonico,  and  at  Florence,  show  how  successfully  this  class  of  art 
was  cultivated  down  to  a  very  late  period  of  the  empire.  The 
Roman  sarcophagi  form  a  distinct  order  of  monuments,  and  are  also 
of  the  later  period.  The  bas-reliefs  with  which  they  are  decorated 
generally,  are  borrowed  from  Greek  myths,  such  as  the  story  of 
Niobe,  but  in  treatment,  the  delicate  wisdom  of  the  original  is 
gradually  ignored. 

AVhen  Greece  fell,  there  were  but  three  superior  artists,  Lysippua 
the  sculptor,  Apelles  the  painter,  and  Pyrgoteles  the  gem-engraver. 
The  first  introduced  a  new  style  of  art,  which  foretokened  the  ago 
already  begun.  He  made  his  figures  larger  than  life,  and  the  huge 
instead  of  the  beautiful  followed  evermore,  till  the  empire  of  force 
had  in  turn  perished.  A  hundred  colossi  of  the  sun  arose  in  the 
single  island  of  Rhodes,  the  most  famous  of  which,  by  Chares  of 
Lindus,  was  completed  b.  c.  280.  The  imposing  group  of  Dirce 
and  the  Bull,  executed  by  artists  bom  at  Tralles,  is  another  expres- 
sion of  that  time.  But  the  most  significant  symbol  of  the  Augustan 
age  and  its  spirit  is  that  famous  work  made  by  three  Rhodian  sculp- 
tors, the  Laocoon.  It  was  probably  executed  about  the  time  of 
Titus,  as  Pliny  first  saw  it  in  the  palace  of  that  emperor,  and 
referred  to  it  as  a  novelty.  In  that  group,  violent  action  and 
intense  suffering  are  shown  in  the  same  instant  simultaneously ;  we 
pity  the  younger  son,  tremblingly  hope  for  the  elder,  and  despair 
of  all  three  as  that  horrid  shriek  rings  from  the  distorted  mouth 
of  the  father,  maddened  by  agony  into  a  forgetfulness  of  his  own 
offspring  writhing  with  him  in  serpent-folds,  and  fatally  crushed  by 
the  meshes  of  a  living  net.  "What  the  transcendent  statue  by 
Phidias  was  to  the  majestic  Jupiter  of  Homer,  the  sculptured 


ART. 


171 


Laocoon  was  to  the  description  by  Virgil,  but  in  a  very  infeiior 
degree.  From  the  time  the  haughty  dwellers  on  mount  Capitoline 
had  been  obliged  to  adopt  old  Etruscan  statues  to  perpetuate  their 
own  historical  events,  the  Romans  never  excelled  in  noble  art.  It 
was  a  characteristic  fact,  that  Clodius,  after  the  banishment  of 
Cicero,  on  the  ruins  of  his  palace  dedicated  to  Liberty  a  statue 
which  in  its  primary  use  had  represented  a  Boeotian  courtesan. 
To  the  end,  that  rough  race  never  possessed  the  enlightened  eyes, 
purged  of  their  blinding  film,  like  those  of  Diomed,  to  discern  the 
fine  texture  of  celestial  forms,  or  to  admire  their  charms. 

Roman  painting  will  require  but  a  brief  notice.  Early  in  the 
Augustan  age,  easel-painting  was  neglected,  and  wall-decoration 
came  into  special  favor,  as  the  handmaid  of  luxury.  In  the  time  of 
Vespasian,  according  to  Pliny,  painting  was  a  perishing  art,  and 
with  the  most  splendid  colors  nothing  worth  speaking  of  was  pro- 
duced. Scenography,  originally  derived  from  Asia  Minor,  was 
cultivated  at  Rome,  by  Ludius.  He  executed,  as  room  decorations, 
villas  and  porticoes,  artificial  gardens,  parks,  streams,  canals,  and 
marine  views,  enlivened  with  comical  figures  in  all  sorts  of  rural 
occupations.  The  perspective  theatrical  paintings,  by  which  the 
Greek  drama  was  illustrated,  gradually  extended  the  art  of  land- 
scape, since  it  increased  the  demand  for  a  deceptive  imagination  of 
inanimate  objects,  such  as  buildings,  woods,  and  rocks.  This  was 
imitated  by  the  Romans,  and  transferred  from  the  playhouse  to 
their  halls  adorned  with  pillars,  where  the  long  surfaces  of  the  wall 
were  at  first  covered  with  pictures  in  small,  and  afterwards  with 
wide  prospects  of  towns,  shores  of  the  sea,  and  extensive  pastures 
upon  which  the  cattle  are  feeding.  In  the  time  of  the  later  Caesars, 
landscape  painting  became  a  distinct  branch ;  but,  according  to 
the  specimens  preserved  to  us  in  Herculaneum,  Pompeii,  and  Sta- 
biae,  these  pictures  of  nature  were  more  allied  to  private  villas  and 
artificial  gardens,  than  to  broad  views  of  the  open  country. 

In  the  age  of  Hadrian,  painting  flourished  to  a  limited  degree, 
-^tion  made  a  composition  of  Alexander  and  Roxane,  with  Erotes 
busied  about  him  in  the  king's  armor,  which  Lucian  greatly  ad- 
mired. But  painting  continued  to  sink  into  a  mere  daubing  of 
colors,  and  was  commonly  an  occupation  of  slaves  to  adorn  walls 
in  the  most  expeditious  manner,  according  to  the  caprice  of  taste- 


172 


AUGUSTUS. 


less  tyrants.  Foreign  artists  were  often  employed  servilely  to  copy 
tlie  old  masters ;  while  the  purity  of  native  taste  was  exemplified 
in  one  of  the  annual  ceremonies  at  Rome,  which  consisted  in  fresh 
painting  the  statue  of  Jupiter,  in  the  capitol,  with  bright  vermilion. 
The  time  delighted  in  tricks  of  all  kinds.  In  the  golden  house  of 
Nero,  a  Pallas,  by  Fabullus,  was  admired,  which  looked  at  every 
one  who  directed  his  eyes  toward  her ;  and  the  picture  of  the  ty- 
rant himself,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  on  canvass,  is  justly 
reckoned  by  Pliny  as  one  of  the  fooleries  of  the  age. 

Ancient  coins  throw  much  light  upon  Roman  art.  They  make 
us  feel  the  reality  of  great  events  connected  with  the  rise  and  fall 
of  the  empire  more  vividly  than  any  written  records.  The  annual 
coinage,  bearing  the  names  and  portraits  of  leading  personages,  in- 
deed, formed  the  most  legible  and  enduring  "  state  gazette,"  con- 
tinued without  interruption  from  Pacuvius,  b.  c.  200,  who  was  an 
artist  as  well  as  poet,  down  to  the  fifth  century.  In  this  depart- 
ment of  Roman  art,  as  in  every  other,  the  progress  of  growth,  de- 
cline, and  decay,  is  distinctly  marked.  The  last  coins,  like  the  last 
temples,  statues,  and  pictures,  foretokening  Gothic  art,  were  as 
marked  features  of  transition,  as  those  which  were  stamped  on 
Grecian  genius  as  it  migrated  into  Rome.  Starting  from  the  heart 
of  the  Etruscan  nation,  which  was  partly  of  an  oriental  derivation, 
art  in  the  Augustan  age  ran  through  its  second  cycle,  correspond- 
ant  to  that  of  the  Periclean,  showing  that  the  evolution  which  in 
Greece  had  been  illustrated  in  consummate  statues,  was  strictly 
normal,  and  the  same  which  in  Etruria,  at  the  outset,  dawned  in 
drawings  upon  vases.  The  strong  influence  which  Assyria  had 
thrown  over  some  parts  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor,  was  carried  far 
west  by  the  Etruscans,  who  quitted  that  district  and  settled  in  the 
north-west  of  Italy.  They  were  celebrated  workers  in  clay  and 
bronze ;  and  the  ornaments  and  figures  wrought  by  them  on 
these  materials  are  identical  with  the  figures  upon  the  bronze 
bowls  and  plates  recently  discovered  by  Mr.  Layard  at  Nineveh. 
The  Etruscans  were  well  acquainted  with  agriculture,  as  well  as 
many  other  practical  arts,  and  knew  how  to  work  the  iron  of  Elba. 
Thus  it  was  that  Providence  placed  the  formative  element  of  the 
Augustan  age  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right  place  to  execute 
its  mission  under  the  wisdom  of  a  divine  intent. 


ART. 


173 


When  the  appropriate  field  had  been  cleared,  and  all  fitting 
agencies  were  prepared,  the  advent  of  Cliristianity  rendered  possi- 
ble the  full  development  of  the  human  soul,  and  a  corresponding 
improvement  of  noble  art.  The  preliminary  throes  of  a  heavenly 
birth  transpired  under  the  last  decay  of  paganism,  the  impressions 
of  which  are  preserved  in  the  primitive  sculptures,  mosaics,  and 
illuminations  of  the  yet  persecuted  church.  In  the  catacombs  un- 
der Rome  are  numerous  works  of  the  late  Augustan  period,  not  to 
be  exceeded  in  interest  by  any  other  remains  of  past  ages.  Many 
entire  days  may  be  well  spent  in  that  sanctuary  of  antiquity,  where 
Paganism  and  Christianity  confront  each  other  engaged  in  mortal 
conflict.  Great  numbers  of  the  vestiges  of  that  struggle  and  aus- 
picious triumph  have  been  taken  from  the  subterranean  chapels 
and  tombs,  and  are  now  affixed  to  the  walls  of  the  Vatican,  where 
they  furnish  abundance  of  enjoyment  and  reflection  to  one  studious 
of  the  great  unfoldings  of  the  divine  purpose  in  human  progress. 
These  "  sermons  in  stones  "  are  addressed  to  the  heart,  not  to  the 
head ;  and  possess  great  value  from  being  the  creation  of  the  purest 
portion  of  the  "  catholic  and  apostoHc  church"  then  extant.  In 
all  the  Lapidarian  Gallery,  there  are  no  prayers  for  the  dead,  nor  to 
the  apostles  or  early  saints ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  such  relics 
as  "  eternal  sleep,"  "  eternal  home,"  etc.,  not  one  expression  con- 
trary to  the  plain  sense  of  Scripture.  This  is  the  more  remarkable 
when  it  is  known  that  the  catacombs  remained  open  during  half  of 
the  fifth  century. 

That  Mosaic  should  be  popular  with  the  Romans  was  natural, 
since  their  thoughts,  mythology,  social  and  philosophical  systems, 
exhibited  only  one  vast  composition  made  up  of  precious  fragments 
plundered  from  the  East,  and  maintained  in  a  gorgeous  form  on 
their  grand  system  of  forcible  compact  and  consolidated  union. 
Pliny  states  that  Scylla  was  the  first  Roman  who  caused  stone-laid 
work  to  be  produced,  about  b.  c.  80.  Many  elegant  spoils  from 
Greece  were  deposited  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  and 
were  probably  adopted  as  decorations,  which  created  in  the  minds 
of  luxurious  and  ostentatious  patricians  an  anxiety  for  other  magni- 
ficent embellishments,  and  thus  occasioned  Mosaic.  The  most  no- 
ble specimen  of  it  now  extant  is  the  splendid  pavement  of  the 
Pantheon,  the  historical  worth  of  which  is  commensurate  with  its 


\ 


174  AUGUSTUS. 

great  superficial  extent.  Porphyry,  Giallo  Antico,  and  Pavonaz- 
zetto  are  the  principal  marbles  employed,  and  they  are  arranged 
simply  in  round  and  square  slabs.  Fine  fi-agments  have  been  found 
in  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  and  are  preserved,  with  numerous  other 
specimens,  in  the  great  Mosaic  depository  of  the  Vatican.  The 
most  generally  known,  and  by  far  the  most  exquisite  example  of 
this  art  still  existing,  is  the  picture  usually  called  "  Pliny's  Doves." 
It  is  in  the  museum  of  the  Capitol,  and  represents  a  metal  bason,  on 
the  edge  of  which  four  doves  are  sitting  ;  one  of  them  is  stooping 
to  drink,  and  not  only  the  shadow  cast  by  it,  but  even  the  reflec- 
tion of  part  of  the  head  in  the  water,  is  beautifully  shown.  The 
vast  accumulation  of  precious  material  after  each  campaign  greatly 
enhanced  the  passion  for  Mosaic  decoration,  and  it  was  copiously 
produced  till  the  end  of  the  second  century.  The  church  early 
adopted  this  art  for  sacred  symbolic  purposes,  and  during  the  me- 
diaeval period,  carried  it  to  the  highest  perfection.  The  only  speci- 
men of  primitive  work  now  extant,  is  the  curious  incrustation  which 
lines  the  vaulting  of  the  Baptistery  erected  by  Constantine,  dedi- 
cated to  Santa  Constanza,  and  which  represents  a  vine  covering, 
as  it  were,  the  whole  roof. 

Illuminated  books  were  known  to  the  pagan  Eomans,  and  were 
at  a  later  period  made  in  a  most  attractive  style  by  Christian  zeal. 
In  the  time  of  Pliny,  written  volumes  were  decorated  with  pictures ; 
and  Dibdin  refers  to  a  collection  of  seven  hundred  notices  by  Varro, 
of  eminent  men,  illustrated  by  portraits.  This  book  appears  to 
have  been  seen  by  Symmachus  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century, 
who  speaks  of  it  in  one  of  his  letters.  The  Vatican  Virgil  has  but 
little  ornament ;  and  of  enriched  initials,  or  ornamental  borders,  the 
early  Latin  MSS.  have  none.  In  the  fifth  century,  a  great  improve- 
ment began,  which  will  be  noticed  in  its  proper  place.  The  process 
of  laying  on  and  burnishing  gold  and  silver  appears  to  have  been 
familiar  to  the  oriental  nations  from  a  remote  antiquity.  There  is 
no  instance  of  its  use  in  the  Egyptian  papyri,  yet  it  is  not  unrea- 
sonable to  believe  that  the  Greeks  acquired  the  art  from  the  East, 
and  conveyed  it  westward  with  all  other  elements  of  artistic  worth. 
Among  the  later  generations  of  that  people,  the  usage  became  so 
common  that  the  scribes  or  artists  in  gold  constituted  a  distinct 
class.    The  luxury  thus  introduced  to  the  Romans  was  augmented 


ART. 


175 


by  writing  on  vellum,  stained  of  a  purple  or  rose  color,  the  earliest 
instance  of  which  is  recorded  by  Julius  Capitolinus,  in  his  life  of 
the  emperor  Maximinus  the  younger,  to  whom  his  mother  made  a 
present  of  the  works  of  Homer,  written  on  purple  vellum,  in  letters 
of  gold.  This  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  third  century. 
Thence  a  rapid  decline  succeeded  until,  under  the  auspices  of  rising 
Christianity,  this  beautiful  art  rose  to  the  highest  point.  Before  the 
fourth  century  ended,  St.  Jerome  tells  us  its  use  was  more  frequent, 
but  always  applied  to  copies  of  the  Bible,  and  devotional  books, 
written  for  the  libraries  of  princes,  and  the  service  of  monasteries. 

Thus  have  we  briefly  sketched  the  arts  of  that  people  who,  at 
all  periods,  and  in  every  form,  have  built  out  of  ruins.  A  band  of 
robbers  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  a  city  abandoned  by  its 
builders,  and  which  they  chose  to  inhabit.  But  outcasts  as  they 
were,  they  brought  few  women  with  them,  and  these  they  took  by 
violence  from  the  peaceful  Etruscans,  No  attractive  house,  nor 
ample  temple,  was  erected  by  the  Romans  for  five  hundred  years, 
€o  barbarous  was  the  genius  of  the  people.  Corinth  and  Syracuse, 
two  most  magnificent  cities,  left  no  impression  on  their  conquerors ; 
their  drinking  vessels  were  of  gold,  while  their  temples  and  deities 
were  of  uncouth  stone,  or  brittle  clay.  Nero  built  an  immense 
palace,  gilded  in  the  most  costly  manner  throughout.  But  the 
masters  of  the  world,  trembling  to  enter  it,  commanded  its  destruc- 
tion, and  removed  the  works  of  Phidias  and  Praxiteles,  of  Scopas 
and  Lysippus,  of  Apelles  and  Zeuxis,  and,  in  a  fearful  conflagration, 
pom'ed  forth  torrents  of  precious  metals  from  its  ceilings,  its  arches, 
and  its  architraves,  in  order  to  construct  out  of  its  scathed  kitchens 
and  stables  a  bath  and  amphitheatre  for  the  Roman  people.  They 
did  less  in  their  city  than  in  their  colonies,  for  the  ultimate  welfare 
of  humanity.  The  most  majestic  and  solid  specimen  of  engineering 
was  the  bridge  with  which  they  spanned  the  Danube ;  and  the 
grandest  of  their  works  was  the  wall  they  erected  against  the  Cale- 
donians. About  B.C.  200,  the  Chinese  completed  their  immense 
wall,  to  fence  themselves  in ;  and  the  Romans  would  fain  ward  the 
northern  barbarians  ofi".  But  Providence,  leaving  the  effete  East 
to  its  chosen  isolation,  with  irresistible  movement  sweeps  outward 
on  the  broad  current  of  progressive  civilization,  and  lifts  the  curtain 
of  a  new  act  in  the  still  more  glorious  West, 


CHAPTER  III. 


SCIENCE. 

We  are  told  by  Livy  that,  soon  after  his  disappearance  from 
among  men,  the  spirit  of  Romulus  revisited  the  distinguished  sena- 
tor, Proculus  Julius,  and  addressed  him  as  follows :  "  Go,  tell  my 
countrymen  it  is  the  decree  of  heaven,  that  the  city  I  have  founded 
shall  become  the  mistress  of  the  world.  Let  her  cultivate  assidu- 
ously the  military  art.  Then  let  her  be  assured,  and  transmit  the 
assurance  from  age  to  age,  that  no  mortal  power  can  resist  the 
arms  of  Rome."  Strict  and  persevering  obedience  to  this  counsel 
eventually  caused  that  colossal  power  to  extend  itself  from  Siberia 
to  the  Great  Desert,  and  from  the  Ganges  to  the  Atlantic.  But  it 
would  be  in  vain  to  look  to  such  a  people,  actuated  by  martial  am- 
bition only,  for  the  general  and  successful  cultivation  of  science. 
Regal,  republican,  and  imperial  Rome,  was  undoubtedly  a  perfect 
model  of  a  predatory  state,  but  the  last  to  excel  in  refined  and  eru- 
dite thought. 

The  old  Romans  were  much  attached  to  agriculture,  as  a  general 
pursuit.  It  was  only  at  a  late  period  that  commerce,  literature, 
art,  and  science,  were  introduced  among  them,  and  then  only  in  a 
subordinate  place.  Among  the  Greeks,  most  proper  names,  and 
almost  all  the  most  distinguished,  were  derived  from  gods  and  heroes, 
and  bore  a  significancy  both  poetical  and  glorious.  Among  the 
Romans,  on  the  contrary,  the  names  of  many  of  their  most  distin- 
guished families,  such  as  Fabius,  Lentulus,  Piso,  Cicero,  and  many 
others,  were  taken  from  vegetable  productions,  and  the  occupations 
of  agriculture.  Others,  as  Secundus,  Quintus,  Septimus,  and  Octa- 
vius,  are  derived  from  the  numbers  of  the  old  popular  reckoning. 
But  mathematics  never  flourished  with  that  people,  while  agricul- 
ture was  a  science  in  which  they  first  and  chiefly  excelled.    It  was 


SCIENCE. 


177 


one  of  the  very  few  departments  in  which  Rome  produced  original 
writers.  The  language  and  science  of  conquered  peoples  were  gen- 
erally despised  as  barbarian;  but  renderings  into  the  Latin  were 
sometimes  made,  as  when  the  writings  of  the  Punic  Mago  upon 
agriculture  were  translated  at  the  command  of  the  senate  of  Rome. 

The  Etruscan  race  were  early  subject  to  the  Grecian  influence, 
through  a  current  of  Tyrrhenian  Pelasgi,  and  they  continued  the 
westward  development  of  science  thence  received,  by  penetrating 
the  north  of  Italy,  and  across  the  Alps.  The  influence  which  they 
exerted  upon  the  political  character  and  scientific  progress  of  the 
ancient  Romans,  was  very  great.  The  impression  which  the  latter 
left  upon  universal  civilization,  vastly  extended  the  scope  of  thought, 
but  very  much  of  it  grew  out  of  a  particular  element  in  primitive 
Etruscan  character.  This  consisted  in  their  close  intimacy  with 
natural  phenomena.  Many  of  their  most  sagacious  minds  were 
organized  into  a  college,  who  gave  themselves  to  divination  and 
the  observation  of  meteorological  occurrences.  The  Fulgatores,  or 
interpreters  of  the  lightning,  occupied  themselves  with  the  direction 
of  the  electric  fluid,  and  with  turning  it  aside,  or  drawing  it  down. 
An  account  is  given  by  Father  Angelo  Cortenovis,  perhaps  fabu- 
lous, that  the  tomb  of  Lars  Porsena,  described  by  Varro,  was  fur- 
nished with  a  brazen  helmet,  and  a  brazen  chain  appended,  which 
formed  a  collector  of  atmospheric  electricity,  or  a  conductor  of 
lightning.  K  such  was  the  fact,  or,  as  Michaelis  believed,  the  me- 
tallic points  upon  Solomon's  temple  were  for  the  like  purpose,  they 
must  have  been  formed  at  a  time  when  mankind  possessed  the 
remnants  of  an  ante-historical  knowledge  of  natural  philosophy, 
which  was  speedily  beclouded  to  be  unfolded  under  fairer  auspi- 
ces. That  the  connection  between  lightning  and  conducting 
metals  was  early  discovered,  is  clear  from  the  notice  taken  of  it  by 
Ctesias.  He  said,  "  He  has  two  iron  swords  in  his  possession,  pres- 
ents from  the  king  (Artaxerxes  Mnemon)  and  his  mother  (Pary- 
satis) ;  these  swords,  if  planted  in  the  earth,  turned  aside  clouds, 
hail,  and  lightning.  He  has  himself  seen  their  efiect ;  for  the  king 
had  made  the  experiment  twice  before  his  eyes."  Humboldt  says, 
"The  close  attention  paid  by  the  Tuscans  to  the  meteorological 
processes  of  the  atmosphere,  and  to  every  thing  which  varied  from 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  makes  it  certainly  a  subject  of  regret 

8* 


178 


AUGUSTUS. 


that  none  of  the  lightning-books  have  come  down  tv.  as.  The  epochs 
of  the  appearance  of  great  comets,  or  the  fall  of  meteoric  stones, 
and  the  crowds  of  falling  stars,  were, 'without  doubt,  as  clearly  laid 
down  in  them,  as  in  the  more  ancient  Chinese  annals  used  by  Ed- 
ward Biot."  Creuzer,  in  his  Symbols  and  Mythology  of  the  An- 
cient Nations,  has  attempted  to  show  that  the  peculiarity  of  the 
country  in  Etruria  produced  the  characteristic  direction  of  the  mind 
of  its  inhabitants.  There  is  a  strong  analogy  between  the  power 
over  lightning,  attributed  to  Prometheus,  and  the  wonderful  pre- 
tended attraction  of  the  lightning  of  the  Fulgatores.  But  there 
was  no  science  in  the  operation,  which  consisted  in  exorcising  only, 
and  possessed  nothing  more  effective  or  practical  than  the  carved 
ass's  head,  by  means  of  which,  according  to  their  religiors  customs, 
they  defended  themselves  during  a  thunder-storm.  Otfri^sd  MuUer 
states  that,  according  to  the  complex  Etrurian  theory  of  Auguries, 
the  soft,  warming  lightning,  which  Jupiter  sent  down,  by  his  own 
authority  and  power,  was  distinguished  from  the  more  violent  elec- 
trical mode  of  castigation,  which,  according  to  the  constitution  of 
the  heavens,  he  only  dared  send  down  after  a  previous  consultation 
with  all  the  twelve  gods.  Lightning  from  the  higher  cloud-region 
they  carefully  distinguished  from  those  flashes  which  Saturn  caused 
to  arise  from  below,  and  which  they  called  terrestrial  lightning, 
a  distinction  much  more  intelligently  discriminated  by  modem 
science.  After  an  imperfect  but  continuous  mode,  complete  regis- 
ters of  the  daily  condition  of  the  weather  were  established. 

The  Aquileges,  those  who  were  specially  skilled  in  drawing  forth 
springs  of  water  and  examining  its  properties,  originated  a  some- 
what critical  investigation  of  geological  phenomena,  such  as  the 
strata  of  rocks  and  the  inequalities  of  earth-formations.  Diodorus 
extols  the  Tuscan  race  as  a  people  addicted  to  the  study  of  nature. 
They  were  undoubtedly,  in  their  day,  the  most  eflScient  promoters 
of  physical  knowledge,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  science  for  the 
Augustan  age. 

The  knowledge  of  a  great  part  of  the  surface  of  the  eastern 
world  was  first  attained  by  the  conquests  made  by  Alexander. 
These  occurred  at  a  time  when  the  Grecian  language  and  philosophy 
were  so  widely  spread,  that  scientific  observation  and  the  systematic 
arrangement  of  general  phenomena,  could  be  rendered  most  lucid 


SCIENCE. 


179 


to  the  mind,  and  most  profitable  to  the  world.  By  another  most 
providential  coincidence,  at  the  moment  when  an  immense  store  of 
new  materials  was  thus  gathered  for  study  and  use,  the  great 
Stagirite  was  at  hand  to  direct  inquiry  into  the  facts  of  natural 
history,  with  a  comprehensive  sagacity  never  before  known.  Having 
explored  every  possible  depth  of  speculative  investigation,  and 
spread  out  all  realms  in  a  map  of  practical  improvement,  bounded 
and  defined  by  definite  scientific  language,  he  -  gave  the  immense 
treasure  to  the  West,  then  just  prepared  for  the  donation.  Anterior 
to  the  Augustan  age,  science  had  accumulated  many  materials,  but 
could  hardly  be  said  to  exhibit  a  growing  body  of  determinate 
results.  The  Alexandrian  school  opened  on  the  eastern  edge  of  a 
new  cycle,  whose  unfolding  was  manifestly  one  of  great  advance- 
ment. It  was  among  the  Romans  that  the  idea  of  progressive 
science  was  first  conceived  and  declared  as  a  law.  Pliny  would 
not  despair  of  seeing  proficiency  perpetually  increased.  Seneca, 
also,  felt  assured  that  the  time  would  come  when  what  was  now 
dark  would  be  luminous,  and  that  which  is  now  most  admired 
would  be  entirely  eclipsed  by  infinitely  more  resplendent  discoveries. 
Such  hopeful  sentiments  show  a  confidence  of  the  increase  of 
knowledge,  which  was  not  expressed  in  earlier  times.  It  is 
especially  to  be  observed  that  this  anticipation,  both  in  Pliny  and 
Seneca,  was  prompted  by  the  discoveries  at  that  time  made  in 
astronomy ;  which,  as  Whewell  remarks,  was  "  the  only  progressive 
science  produced  by  the  ancient  world."  At  a  later  period,  Ovid, 
in  the  chorus  to  his  Medea,  expressed  a  like  confidence  in  regard  to 
maritime  discovery.  But  the  prospect  of  scientific  progress  was 
not  connected  with  much,  if  any,  general  improvement  of  mankind, 
even  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  entertained  the  fondest  expec- 
tations. It  must,  therefore,  have  afibrded  some  consolation  to  those 
who  lived  when  the  old  world  was  decomposing,  and  when  its  heart, 
mind  and  soul,  all  bore  tokens  of  a  great  and  radical  change,  to  gaze 
on  any  bright  gleams  which  science  revealed  through  the  clouds  of 
the  future. 

The  Ptolemies,  by  their  love  for  the  sciences,  their  splendid 
establishments  for  promoting  intellectual  development,  and  their 
unwearied  endeavors  to  extend  the  advantages  of  commerce,  gave 
an  impulse  to  the  study  of  nature  and  the  knowledge  of  geography, 


180 


AUGUSTUS. 


such  as  had  not  existed  in  any  preceding  nation,  Even  before  the 
first  Punic  war  had  shaken  the  power  of  Carthage,  Alexandria  had 
become  the  greatest  emporium  of  trade  and  thought  in  the  world. 
When  martial  force  had  laid  the  broad  foundations  of  empire  far 
down  the  track  of  national  destinies,  Egypt  became  a  province,  and 
all  its  immensely  valuable  attainments  in  science  were  transferred  to 
the  Romans.  As  the  companions  of  Alexander  had  become 
acquainted  with  the  monsoon  winds,  which  render  such  powerful 
assistance  in  voyages  between  the  east  coast  of  Africa  and  the  west 
coast  of  Asia,  so  the  Caesars,  in  due  time  and  order,  were  put  in 
possession  of  means  by  which  they  might  compass  the  western 
shores  of  Europe.  Thus  greater  portions  of  the  globe  have  become 
accessible,  the  nations  have  been  drawn  together  more  closely,  and 
the  sphere  of  human  knowledge  has  been  progressively  enlarged. 
This  direction  of  Greek  thought,  which  was  productive  of  such 
grand  results,  and  had  been  so  long  in  a  quiet  state  of  preparation, 
was  manifested  in  the  noblest  way  at  the  era  of  transition  from 
Pericles  to  Augustus.  Its  extension  at  the  time  of  the  Lagides  may 
be  considered  as  a  very  important  step  in  the  general  knowledge  of 
nature  ultimately  attained. 

Before  the  appearance  of  Aristotle,  the  phenomena  of  nature 
had  not  been  studied  by  the  aid  of  acute  observation,  and  for  their 
interpretation  they  were  surrendered  to  obscure  guesses  and 
arbitrary  hypotheses.  But  in  the  new  age  which  succeeded,  much 
more  careful  attention  to  empirical  analysis  was  manifested.  Facts 
were  sifted,  and  synthetical  results  obtained.  The  securer  road  of 
induction  was  opened,  and  speculations  in  natural  philosophy 
assumed  more  and  more  the  form  and  worth  of  practical  knowledge. 
An  ardent  desire  to  study  facts  succeeded  the  power  and  passion  to 
amass  them,  and  a  science  was  born  of  nobler  aspect  than  a  merely 
spiritless  and  empty  erudition.  The  peculiar  character  of  Ptole- 
mean  scholasticism  preserved  itself  until  near  the  fall  of  the  western 
empire,  and  formed  an  all-prevailing  element  in  Roman  science. 
Much  assistance  was  derived  from  the  great  collections  originally  in 
the  museum  at  Alexandria,  and  the  two  libraries  at  Bruchium  and 
at  Rhacotis.  Connected  with  the  first  was  a  large  body  of  learned 
men,  whose  diversified  talents  and  universal  knowledge  enabled 
them  to  generalize  all  the  elements  that  had  been  agglomerated  for 


SCIENCE. 


181 


the  advantage  of  a  yet  more  critical  age.  The  library  of  Bruchium 
was  the  oldest,  and  suffered  at  the  burning  of  the  fleet  in  the  time 
of  Julius  Csesar.  The  library  of  Rhacotis  made  a  part  of  the 
Serapeum,  where  it  was  united  to  the  museum.  The  collection  of 
Pergamus  was,  by  the  generosity  of  Anthony,  incorporated  with  the 
library  of  Rhacotis. 

Doubtless  the  germ  of  all  subsequent  progress  in  the  natural 
sciences  was  to  be  found  in  Plato's  high  regard  for  the  development 
of  a  mathematical  mode  of  thought,  and  in  the  system  which  Aris- 
totle set  forth  respecting  all  organized  beings.  These  were  the 
guiding-stars  which  conducted  all  great  masters  of  learning  amid 
fanatical  errors  for  many  centuries,  and  prevented  the  utter  loss  of 
a  scientific  method.  Step  by  step  the  progress  went  forward. 
Eratosthenes  of  Cyrene  projected  a  systematic  "Universal  Geo- 
graphy ;"  and,  outstripping  the  "  System  of  Floodgates,"  by  Strato 
of  Lampsacus,  followed  the  rush  of  waters  through  the  Dardanelles, 
and  went  forth  in  thought  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  to 
attempt  the  solution  of  the  problem  concerning  the  similarity  of 
the  level  of  the  ocean  around  all  the  continents.  A  corresponding 
illustration  of  the  intellectual  activity  of  the  age  appeared  in  the 
attempt  to  determine,  by  approximation,  the  circumference  of  the 
earth.  The  data  arrived  at  by  Bematist,  were  indeed  incomplete ;  but 
the  device  to  raise  himself  from  the  narrow  segment  of  his  native 
land,  measure  adjacent  degrees,  and  finally  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the 
size  of  the  entire  globe,  is  a  striking  index  to  the  Augustan  age. 

But  the  splendid  progress  made  in  the  scientific  acquaintance 
with  the  celestial  bodies  at  that  time,  is  most  worthy  of  note. 
Aristyllus  and  Timochares  determined  the  position  of  fixed  stars. 
Aristarchus  of  Samos,  the  cotemporary  of  Cleanthes,  was  acquainted 
with  the  ancient  Pythagorean  ideas,  attempted  to  explore  thoroughly 
the  construction  of  the  universe,  and  guessed  at  the  double  movement 
of  the  earth  round  its  axis,  as  well  as  its  progress  round  a  central 
sun.  Seleucus  of  Euthrse,  a  century  later  attempted  to  confirm 
the  opinion  of  the  Samian  writer ;  and  Hipparchus,  the  founder 
of  scientific  astronomy,  became  the  greatest  original  observer  of 
the  stars  in  the  whole  of  antiquity.  He  was  the  first  author  of  astro- 
nomical tables,  and  the  discoverer  of  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes. 
His  own  observations  were  made  at  Rhodes,  and  upon  comparing 


182 


AUGUSTUS. 


them  with  those  of  Timochares  and  Aristyllus,  he  was  led  to  this 
great  discovery.  In  the  same  hands,  celestial  phenomena  were 
first  employed  to  determine  the  geographical  position  of  certain 
places.  The  new  map  of  the  world,  constructed  by  Hipparchus, 
touched  upon  eclipses,  and  the  measurement  of  shadows,  for  the  de- 
termination of  the  geographical  latitudes  and  longitudes.  Im- 
provements cluster,  and  a  new  aid  of  great  value  soon  appeared, 
in  the  hydraulic  clock  of  Ctesibius,  which  measured  time  much 
more  accurately  than  the  Clypsydra,  or  water-glasses,  formerly  in 
use.  For  a  corresponding  improvement  in  the  determination  of 
space,  better  instruments  were  invented  from  time  to  time,  dating 
from  the  ancient  sun-dial  and  the  scaphse  to  the  discovery  of  the 
Astrolabes,  the  solstitial  rings,  and  the  dioptric  lines.  Wider  views 
and  keener  organs  were  afforded  to  increased  scientific  skill,  which 
gradually  led  to  a  closer  acquaintance  with  the  loftiest  planetary 
movement.  But  the  knowledge  of  the  absolute  size,  form,  and 
physical  properties  of  these  bodies,  made  no  progress  whatever, 
that  being  reserved  as  the  leading  glory  of  a  posterior  age. 

The  Augustan  period,  though  it  attained  not  to  true  astronomi- 
cal science  in  the  highest  form,  was  yet  remarkable  in  some  depart- 
ments of  mathematics.  Euclid,  Appollonius  of  Perga,  and 
Archimedes,  were  geometers  of  the  highest  class,  who  were  inter- 
mediate between  Plato  and  the  Menaechmean  figures  and  the  age 
of  Kepler  and  Tycho,  Galileo  and  Laplace. 

Archimedes  was  born  b.  c.  287,  and  is  said  to  have  been  related 
by  blood  to  Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse.  He  was  too  late  to  associate 
with  Euclid,  but  found  a  friend  and  genial  companion  in  Conon, 
another  distinguished  mathematician  of  that  age.  In  his  re- 
searches Archimedes  used  "  his  beloved  Doric  dialect,"  and  contri- 
buted much  to  the  improvement  of  mathematical  science.  His 
first  discoveries  related  to  the  area  of  the  parabola,  the  surface  and' 
solidity  of  the  sphere  and  cylinder,  the  properties  of  spheroids, 
and  of  that  spiral  which  is  called  indifferently  the  spiral  of  Conon 
or  of  Archimedes.  The  speculations  respecting  the  sphere  and 
cylinder  appear  to  have  interested  this  great  man  the  most,  for  he 
wished  to  have  his  grave  marked  by  these  solids,  and  was  the  first 
mathematician  who  caused  his  scientific  discoveries  to  be  inscribed 
on  his  tomb.    Of  his  astronomical  studies,  none  have  reached  our 


SCIENOE. 


183 


times,  excepting  the  method  of  determining  the  sun's  apparent 
diameter.  Cicero  speaks  of  an  orrery,  as  it  would  be  called  in 
modern  times,  made  by  Archimedes,  and  exhibiting  the  motion  of 
the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  planets ;  which  he  uses  as  an  argument 
against  those  who  deny  a  Providence.  "Shall  we,"  says  he, 
"  attribute  more  intelligence  to  Archimedes  for  making  the  imita- 
tion, than  to  nature  for  framing  the  original  ?" 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  his  discoveries  were  those  he 
made  in  mechanics,  and  their  adaptation  by  him  to  practical  use. 
The  lever,  the  wheel  and  axle,  the  polyspact  or  pulley,  the  wedge, 
and  the  screw  were  known  to  him.  He  seems  to  have  turned 
much  of  his  attention  to  the  construction  of  powerful  machines, 
and  boasted  of  the  unlimited  extent  of  his  art  in  the  well-known 
expression,  "  Give  me  a  spot  to  stand  on,  and  I  will  move  the 
earth."  He  is  said  to  have  enabled  Hiero,  through  a  mechanical 
contrivance,  to  push  a  large  ship  into  the  sea,  by  his  individual 
strength.  His  application  was  so  intense  that  he  required  to  be 
reminded  of  the  common  duties  of  eating  and  drinking  by  those 
about  him ;  and  while  his  servants  were  placing  him  in  his  bath, 
he  would  still  continue  drawing  mathematical  diagrams  with  any 
materials  within  his  reach.  "So  that,"  according  to  Plutarch, 
"  this  abstraction  made  people  say,  and  not  unreasonably,  that  he 
was  accompanied  by  an  invisible  siren,  to  whose  song  he  was 
listening." 

By  his  proficiency  in  the  "  Equilibrium  of  Bodies  in  Fluids,"  he 
detected  the  true  weight  of  Hiero's  crown,  and  exclaimed  to  the 
startled  public,  "  I  have  found  it !  I  have  found  it !"  So  greatly 
was  his  inventive  power  feared  by  the  often  repulsed  Romans,  that 
at  last  tbe  appearance  of  a  rope  or  a  pole  above  the  wall  of  a 
besieged  city  threw  them  into  a  panic,  for  fear  of  some  new  "  infer- 
nal machine."  His  burning  mirrors  occasioned  Lucian  to  say  that 
Archimedes,  by  his  mechanical  skill,  burnt  the  Roman  ships. 
Galen  refers  to  the  same  fact.  Archimedes  lent  great  aid  in  the 
final  defense  of  his  beloved  Syracuse,  but  the  fortune  of  Rome  was 
overwhelming  at  last.  It  is  said  that  Marcellus  gave  strict  orders 
to  preserve  a  person  of  whose  genius  he  had  seen  such  extraordi- 
nary proofs,  but  this  was  forgotten  in  the  license  of  war.  A  ruth- 
less soldier  burst  upon  the  venerable  philosopher  absorbed  over  a 


184 


AUGUSTUS. 


diagram,  and  smote  him  dead.  Cicero,  traveling  in  Sicily  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  had  great  difficulty  in  finding  his 
tomb.  "  I  recollected,"  he  says,  "  some  verses  which  I  had  under- 
stood to  be  inscribed  on  his  monument,  which  indicated  that  on  the 
top  of  it  there  was  a  sphere  and  a  cylinder.  On  looking  over  the 
burying-ground  (for  at  the  gate  of  the  city  the  tombs  are  very 
numerous  and  crowded),  I  saw  a  small  pillar  just  appearing  above 
the  brushwood,  with  a  sphere  and  cylinder  upon  it,  and  imme- 
diately told  those  who  were  with  me,  who  were  the  principal  per- 
sons in  Syracuse,  that  I  believed  that  to  be  what  I  was  seeking. 
Workmen  were  sent  in  with  tools  to  clear  and  open  the  place,  and 
when  it  was  accessible,  we  went  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  pedes- 
tal ;  there  we  found  the  inscription,  with  the  latter  portions  of  the 
lines  worn  away,  so  that  about  half  of  it  was  gone.  And  thus,  one 
of  the  most  illustrious  cities  of  Greece,  and  one  formerly  of  the 
most  literary,  would  have  remained  ignorant  of  the  monument  of  a 
citizen  so  distinguished  for  his  talents,  if  they  had  not  learnt  it  from 
a  man  of  a  small  Samnite  village." 

When  the  dominion  of  the  Romans  supervened  upon  that  of  the 
Greeks,  and  bore  all  irresistibly  to  the  West,  much  that  was  glorious 
appeared  to  be  obscured,  but  nothing  was  lost.  All  the  materials 
which  flowed  into  the  vast  stream  of  Roman  civiUzation,  from  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  from  Phoenicia,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Dissus, 
arrived  by  ways  and  in  times  which  infinite  wisdom  saw  to  be  best, 
and  from  Octavius  to  Constantine  were  amalgamated,  and  thence- 
forth still  further  removed  for  the  grandest  use.  From  India  to  the 
Atlantic  coast,  from  Libyan  borders  to  Caledonian  hills,  not  only 
was  the  greatest  variety  in  the  forms  of  earth,  its  organic  produc- 
tions and  physical  phenomena  presented  to  general  notice,  but  also 
the  human  race  was  seen  in  all  the  gradations  of  civilized  and 
savage  life.  In  the  East,  eflfete  races  existed  still  in  the  possession 
of  ancient  knowledge,  and  in  the  exercise  of  ancient  arts ;  while  in 
the  West,  over  gathering  hordes  of  energetic  barbarians,  the  fresh 
dawn  of  a  mightier  life  was  beginning  to  rise.  In  the  time  of 
-^lius  Gallius  and  Bulbus,  distant  scientific  expeditions  were  under- 
taken ;  and  under  Augustus,  a  general  survey  of  the  entire  empire 
was  commenced  by  Zenodoxus  and  Polycletus.  The  same  Grecian 
geometricians,  or  others  under  their  direction,  prepared  itineraries 


SCIENCE.  185 
-  « 

and  special  topographical  accounts  to  be  distributed  among  the 
rulers  of  the  several  provinces.  They  were  the  first  statistical 
works  undertaken  in  Europe.  Roads  were  divided  into  miles,  and 
extended  to  the  remotest  boundaries,  so  that  Hadrian,  in  an  unin- 
terrupted journey  which  occupied  eleven  years,  traveled  with  ease 
from  the  peninsula  of  Iberia  to  Judea,  Egypt,  and  Mauritania.  It 
might  reasonably  be  expected  that  such  a  vast  field,  so  diversified 
in  climate  and  productions,  and  which  might  with  so  much  facility 
be  explored  by  state  oflicers  and  their  retinues  of  learned  men, 
Would  have  produced  numerous  proficients  in  science.  On  the 
contrary,  during  the  four  centuries,  when  the  Romans  held  undivi- 
ded sway  over  the  known  world,  Dioscorides  the  Cilician,  and 
Galenus  of  Pergamus,  were  the  only  natural  philosophers.  The 
first  made  some  approach  to  botanical  science,  and  increased  the 
niunber  of  species  of  plants,  which  had  been  described.  And  it 
was  at  this  time  that  Galen,  by  the  care  of  his  dissections,  and  the 
extent  of  physiological  researches,  has  been  declared  worthy  of 
being  placed  near  to  Aristotle,  and  generally  above  him.  Ptole- 
maeus,  whom  we  before  mentioned  as  a  systematic  astronomer  and 
geographer,  is  a  third  bright  name  to  be  added  to  the  experimental 
philosophers  Dioscorides  and  Galen.  He  measured  the  refraction 
of  light,  and  was  the  first  founder  of  an  important  part  of  optics. 
All  these  distinguished  masters  of  such  science  as  existed  among 
the  Romans  were  Greeks,  as  we  have  before  seen  was  the  case  with 
the  prime  leaders  in  the  departments  of  hterature  and  art. 

As  the  soldiers  of  Alexander  of  Macedon  brought  home  the  jun- 
gle-fowl of  India,  and  domesticated  it  in  Europe ;  so  the  agents  o£ 
Providence,  acting  in  the  realms  of  science,  gathered  up  and  trans- 
mitted just  such  elements  as  their  successors  would  most  need.  As 
soon  as  mineral  acids  could  be  obtained,  chemistiy  first  began,  a 
powerful  means  of  decomposing  matter  ;  therewith  the  distillation 
of  sea-water,  described  by  Alexander  of  Aphrodisias  in  the  time  of 
Caracalla,  became  an  invention  of  great  importance.  The  new 
solvent  was  variously  applied,  and  the  scientific  mind  gradually  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  compound  nature  of  matter,  its  chemical 
constituents,  and  their  mutual  affinities. 

Anatomical  knowledge  also  improved  under  Roman  teachers. 
Marinus,  and  Rufus  of  Ephesus,  dissected  monkeys,  and  distin- 


186 


AUGUSTUS. 


guished  between  the  nerves  of  motion  and  the  nerves  of  sense. 
-<^]lian  of  Praeneste  wrote  a  history  of  animals,  and  Oppianus  of 
Cilicia,  a  poem  upon  fishes.  These  contained  some  accm-ate  de- 
scriptions, but  few  facts  founded  upon  their  own  examination,  or 
worthy  of  a  standard  work  on  natural  history.  Great  numbers  of 
elephants,  elks,  ostriches,  crocodiles,  panthers,  tigers,  and  lions, 
were  slaughtered  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre  during  four  centuries, 
but  without  any  result  save  that  of  a  brutal  enjoyment.  In  that 
great  metropolis  there  was  no  academy  of  science,  and  no  general 
interest  in  a  high  range  of  intellectual  pursuits.  Antonius  Castor, 
the  Roman  physician,  was  the  only  citizen  who  is  reported  to  have 
had  a  botanical  garden,  probably  made  to  imitate  those  of  Theo- 
phrastus  and  Mithridates,  but  of  no  more  practical  use  to  science 
than  was  the  collection  of  fossil  bones  made  by  the  emperor  Au- 
gustus, in  the  museum  of  natural  curiosities.  Galen,  the  only  anat- 
omist of  true  scientific  method,  flourished  under  the  Antonines,  and 
died  about  a.  d.  203.  He  was  originally  from  Pergamus,  but  went 
early  to  Alexandria,  where  he  perfected  his  professional  skill,  and 
then  removed  to  Rome,  the  scene  of  his  great  trials  and  triumphs. 
His  superiority  excited  the  jealous  hatred  of  the  metropolitan  phy^ 
sicians ;  but  the  reputation  he  had  earned  was  superior  to  their 
malice.  Galen  regarded  his  chief  publication  as  "  a  religious  hymn 
in  honor  of  the  Creator." 

The  noble  undertaking  of  a  "  Description  of  the  World,"  by  Caius 
Plinius  the  Second,  was  doubtless  the  greatest  contribution  to  gen- 
eral science  made  during  the  Augustan  age.  It  comprised  thirty- 
seven  books,  and  was  the  first  great  Encyclopedia  of  Nature  and 
Art.  In  all  antiquity  nothing  had  ever  been  attempted  in  hke  man- 
ner, and  for  many  centuries  it  remained  perfectly  unique.  In  its 
dedication  to  Titus,  the  author  appropriately  applied  to  his  work  a 
Greek  expression  which  signifies  the  abstract  and  compendium  of 
universal  knowledge  and  science. 

The  "  Historia  Naturahs"  of  Pliny  includes  a  description  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth ;  the  position  and  course  of  the  celestial 
bodies,  the  meteoric  phenomena  of  the  atmosphere,  the  form  of  the 
earth's  surface,  and  everything  relating  to  its  productions,  from  the 
plants  and  the  mollusca  of  the  ocean  up  to  the  human  race.  Ac- 
cording to  Humboldt,  all  these  subjects  were  treated  of  and  appHed, 


SCIENCE. 


187 


in  the  most  varied  way,  and  brought  forth  the  noblest  fruit  of  de- 
scriptive genius.  The  elements  of  general  knowledge  were  copi- 
ously employed  in  this  great  work,  but  without  strict  order  in  the 
arrangement.  "  The  road  over  which  I  am  about  to  travel,"  says 
Pliny,  with  a  noble  pride,  "  has  been  hitherto  untrodden ;  no  one 
of  our  nation,  or  of  the  Greeks,  has  alone  undertaken  to  treat  of  the 
entire  subject,  namely  Nature.  If  my  enterprise  does  not  succeed, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  a  fine  and  grand  thing  to  have  attempted  it." 
The  intelligent  author  attempted  an  immense  picture,  and  did  not 
entirely  succeed ;  but  the  want  of  success  depended  principally 
upon  a  want  of  capacity  to  make  the  description  of  nature  subordi- 
nate to  scientific  generalizations,  and  in  view  of  the  comprehensive 
laws  of  creation.  Eratosthenes  and  Strabo  had  referred,  not  only  to 
a  description  of  mountains,  but  to  an  account  of  the  entire  earth  ; 
of  their  investigations,  however,  Pliny  made  but  very  little  use. 
Not  more  did  he  profit  by  Aristotle's  work  on  the  anatomical  his- 
tory of  animals.  As  overseer  of  the  fleet  in  lower  Italy,  and  as 
governor  of  Spain,  he  had  but  little  time  for  extended  research  in 
natural  science,  and  was  often  compelled  to  commit  the  execution 
of  large  portions  of  his  designs  to  inferior  hands. 

Pliny  the  younger,  in  his  letters,  characterizes  the  work  of  his 
uncle  truly  "  as  a  learned  book,  full  of  matter,  not  less  manifold  in 
its  subjects  than  nature  herself  is."  There  are  many  things  in 
Pliny  which  are  generally  objected  to  as  unnecessary  and  foreign 
to  his  subject,  but  that  most  competent  critic,  Alexander  Von  Hum- 
boldt, is  disposed  to  speak  of  the  general  result  in  terms  of  praise. 
"  It  appears  to  me  to  be  particularly  gratifying,  that  he  so  fre- 
quently, and  always  with  so  much  pleasure,  alludes  to  the  influence 
exerted  by  nature  upon  the  moral  and  intellectual  development  of 
man.  His  plan  of  connecting  the  subject  is  seldom  well  chosen. 
For  example,  the  account  of  mineral  and  vegetable  matter  leads 
him  to  a  fragment  from  the  history  of  sculpture  ;  a  fragment  which 
has  been  of  almost  more  importance  for  the  present  condition  of  our 
knowledge  than  anything  referring  to  descriptive  natural  history 
which  can  be  extracted  from  the  work."  Pliny  evidently  had  a 
feehng  for  art,  but  he  seldom  betrayed  an  artistic  feeling  in  the 
forms  of  his  scientific  disquisition.  His  data  came  from  books 
ratlier  than  from  nature  direct,  and  a  sombre  hue  invested  all  ho 


18S 


AUGUSTUS. 


wrote.  As  Aristotle  liad  garnered  all  anterior  wealth  in  the  same 
department,  and  passed  it  over  to  the  Romans,  so  Pliny,  in  turn, 
gathered  up  later  accumulations,  and  transmitted  the  grand  aggre- 
gate to  the  middle  ages.  Providence  always  has  the  man  ready 
for  the  needful  task. 

That  the  ancients  made  some  powerful  applications  of  the  lens  is 
evident  from  the  account  given  by  Lucian  and  Galen,  that  Archi- 
medes burned  the  Roman  fleet  at  the  siege  of  Syracuse,  by  means 
of  glasses,  b.  c.  212.  But  neither  the  Greeks  nor  Romans  have 
left  us  any  account  of  the  lens  being  apphed  to  increase  the  stores 
of  discovery  in  natural  science.  The  only  authentic  records  we 
have  respecting  the  microscope,  or  its  still  more  powerful  corre- 
lative, belong  to  that  age  of  scientific  invention  for  the  advent  of 
which  the  Augustan  age  was  appointed  to  prepare. 

Lucullus  and  Pompeius,  by  their  eastern  victories,  made  the  Ro- 
mans acquainted  with  Greek  science  and  philosophy ;  the  conse- 
quence of  which  was  that  many  accomplished  teachers  streamed 
from  those  erudite  regions  to  traflBc  their  superior  knowledge  for 
Roman  wealth.  The  latter  really  enjoyed  nothing  disconnected 
with  the  tumultuous  excitement  of  war,  even  in  the  brief  intervals 
of  general  peace.  A  master-passion  for  the  sensations  of  battle 
morbidly  existed  in  every  breast,  and  yearned  for  gratification  in 
the  combats  of  gladiators,  or  the  yet  wilder  brutality  of  the  circus. 
The  cruel  and  ostentatious  spectacles  which  arose  with  the  con- 
quests of  the  republic,  were  continued  with  enhanced  extravagance 
under  the  empire,  fostered  by  the  wealth,  excitement,  and  corrup- 
tion, which  those  conquests  had  introduced.  There  was  no  afiSnity 
of  soul  for  refined  and  tranquil  pleasure  in  the  Romans ;  so  that, 
if  the  legitimate  drama  was  attempted,  the  admiring  mob  felt  the 
keenest  delight  on  viewing  a  mimic  procession,  or  could  inten'upt 
the  plot  by  vociferous  exclamations  for  novelties  of  a  yet  more 
exciting  and  degrading  kind.  Civilization  advanced  perpetually, 
but  from  the  period  of  culmination  under  Augustus,  as  before  under 
Pericles,  each  step  of  progress  was  marked  by  its  decline.  As  the 
palaces  were  enlarged,  they  were  filled  by  impoverished  depend- 
ents. Scipio,  Metellus,  and  others,  form  courts  around  themselves, 
wherein  the  arts  and  sciences  are  taught  by  slaves,  while  the  streets 
resound  with  the  exulting  shouts  of  those  who  conduct  thousands 


SCIENCE. 


189 


of  captives  to  bondage  or  death.  The  great  become  greater,  and 
the  little  become  less  ;  until  the  exhausted  empire  succumbs  to  bar- 
barians, and  a  superseded  civilization  disappears  from  earth. 

The  elder  Gracchus,  that  truly  noble  Roman,  attempted  first  to 
enlarge  the  number  of  landed  proprietors,  and  then  to  fortify  them 
with  the  energy  of  self-respect,  through  the  dignity  of  free  toil. 
The  extension  of  an  enlightened  yeomanry,  happily  employed  in 
the  avocations  of  scientific  agriculture,  was  the  ambition  of  his  life, 
and  the  occasion  of  his  martyr-death.  The  republican  tribune  fell 
under  patrician  clubs,  and  not  in  vain  was  his  corpse  dragged 
through  the  streets,  and  thrown  into  the  Tiber.  Says  Bancroft, 
"The  deluded  nobles  raised  the  full  chorus  of  victory  and  joy. 
They  believed  that  the  Senate  had  routed  the  people ;  but  it  was 
the  avenging  spirit  of  slavery  that  had  struck  the  first  deadly  wound 
into  the  bosom  of  Rome.  When  a  funeral  pyre  was  kindled  to  the 
manes  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  the  retributive  Nemesis  lighted  the 
torch,  which,  though  it  burned  secretly  for  a  while,  at  last  kindled 
the  furies  of  social  war,  and  involved  the  civilized  world  in  the  con- 
flagration." 

The  first  outbreak  of  righteous  indignation  was  in  the  West,  and 
thence  the  war-cry  of  fireedom  spread  far  and  wide.  From  the 
plains  of  Lombardy,  it  reached  the  fields  of  Campania,  and  was 
echoed  beyond  the  Apennines.  A  fit  leader  sprang  to  the  head  of 
outraged  thousands,  and  pointed  to  the  Alps,  telling  them  that  be- 
yond those  dazzling  heights  was  a  home  and  a  hope  for  the  free. 
But  in  vain.  To  grace  the  triumph  of  Trajan  over  the  Dacians,  a 
combat  of  ten  thousand  gladiators,  and  eleven  thousand  wild  beasts, 
was  offered  to  the  metropolitans.  Spartacus,  and  six  thousand  of 
his  rebelling  associates  were  crucified,  thus  lining  the  road  from 
Oapua  to  the  Capitol  with  monuments  of  Roman  refinement  and 
power. 

Julius  Caesar,  in  the  capacity  of  quaestor,  came  to  Gades  (Cadiz), 
in  further  Spain,  and,  not  far  from  the  temple  of  Hercules,  beheld 
the  statue  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Then  and  there,  in  that  re- 
motest West,  he  was  quickened  by  the  most  daring  resolution,  and 
immediately  returned  to  Rome,  fired  with  the  purpose  which  soon 
after  leaped  the  Rubicon  and  won  the  world.  History  records  that 
he  caused  one  important  practical  application  to  be  made  of  astro- 


190 


AUGUSTUS. 


nomical  science,  in  the  coiTection  of  the  calendar ;  this  was  due  to 
the  Alexandrian  school,  and  was  executed  by  the  astronomer  Sosi- 
genes,  who  came  from  Egypt  to  Rome  for  the  purpose.  Thus  was 
that  age  bounded  by  divine  purj:>ose  and  human  ambition ;  Caesar 
finding  his  motive  to  martial  conquest  on  tlig  same  remote  boun- 
dary where  Pliny  conceived  the  design  of  Encyclopaedic  science. 
Moreover,  the  sagacious  warrior  found  in  the  mode  of  arming  and 
fighting  there  an  improvement  which  he,  with  the  greatest  advan- 
tage, introduced  into  his  own  army.  It  was  principally  to  his 
Grerman  auxiliaries,  and  the  more  effective  mode  of  warfare  he  had 
learned  from  them,  that  he  believed  himself  indebted  for  victory  at 
Pharsalia,  the  crowning  battle  of  his  fortunes.  Augustus  formed 
his  body-guard  out  of  westerners  only,  and  all  succeeding  emperors 
sought  more  and  more  to  enlist  Germans  in  their  armies.  The 
great  scale  of  human  destiny  ever  weighs  heaviest  in  the  West. 

But  jurisprudence  was  that  department  of  science  in  which  the 
Romans  thought  with  most  originality,  and  have  exerted  the  great- 
est benefit.  In  tliat  they  were  most  at  borne,  and  from  necessity 
as  well  as  temperament,  they  cultivated  their  legal  system  with 
great  care.  It  had  its  foimdation  in  their  elder  jurisprudence,  in 
which  ultra-democratic  principles  prevailed ;  afterward  the  wi-itten 
code  of  the  primitive  period  was  a  good  deal  modified,  and  greatly 
enlarged.  Caesar  had  formed  the  project  of  a  general  digest  of 
Roman  laws ;  but  this  great  design,  like  many  other  kindred  ones, 
fell  in  his  violent  death.  Under  Augustus,  however,  great  lawyers 
of  opposite  schools,  arose  to  mature  a  system  of  scientific  jurispru- 
dence which  has  exerted  the  mightiest  influence  on  after  ages. 
The  people  who  outraged  every  principle  of  private  rights,  social 
justice,  and  public  law,  were  the  very  nation  who  most  accurately 
defined  the  laws  they  had  themselves  violated.  The  frequency  and 
extent  of  colossal  wrongs  in  that  age  necessitated  a  corresponding 
distinctness  and  majesty  in  the  proclamation  of  rights.  The  Ro- 
mans were  distinguished  for  a  sound  judgment,  and  strong  practical 
sense,  qualities  which  eminently  fitted  them  to  mold  the  forms,  and 
estabhsh  the  titles  connected  with  that  equity  which  should  every 
where  preside  over  the  relations  of  civil  life.  In  this  department 
of  science  alone,  the  help  which  they  derived  from  Greece  was 
very  slight.    The  mere  framework,  so  far  as  the  laws  of  the  twelve 


SCIENCE. 


191 


tables  are  concerned,  came  to  them  from  Athens ;  but  the  grand 
edifice  was  completed  by  their  own  hands,  a  source  and  model 
which  has  affected  the  legal  systems  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
The  Scsevolae,  M.  Manilius,  and  M.  Junius  Brutus,  were  eminent 
legalists  of  the  earlier  period.  w<^ilius  Gallus,  prefect  of  Egypt  un- 
der Augustus,  and  the  friend  of  Strabo  the  geographer,  also  his 
namesake,  C.  AquiHus  Gallus,  were  distinguished  at  a  later  date. 
The  latter  was  the  most  erudite  lawyer,  previous  to  the  brilliant 
days  of  Cicero,  and  was  the  greatest  reformer  of  his  professiorff 
Nor  does  it  appear  that  he  was  lacking  in  fees,  since  we  are  told 
by  Pliny  that  he  owned  and  occupied  a  splendid  palace  on  the 
Viminal  hill.  He  served  the  oflSce  of  praetor  in  company  with 
Cicero,  b.  c.  67,  and  both  before  and  after  that  he  often  sat  as 
judge.  It  was  before  him  that  Cicero  defended  both  Csecina  and 
Cluentius. 

The  Forum  still  awes  the  visitor,  and  affects  strong  minds  the 
strongliest,  because  therein  Rome  was  the  lawgiver  of  nations, 
whence  oracles  of  justice  emanated  that  still  are  the  guides  of  civil 
life.  The  deep  and  comprehensive  thinker  will  thrill  under  the 
power  of  an  invisible  divinity,  as  he  looks  down  upon  the  narrow 
scene  whereon  transpired  the  entire  history  of  the  stupendous  em- 
pire, from  Romulus  to  Constantine.  By  the  councils  of  statesmen, 
meditations  of  philosophers,  and  enthusiasm  of  orators,  the  history 
of  mankind,  not  only  then  but  through  all  time,  was  projected,  re- 
hearsed, and  confirmed.  On  that  spot  dwelt  a  tremendous  moral 
power,  which,  in  moldering  Rome,  forecast  the  fate  of  the  world. 

But  we  are  not  to  forget  in  this  regard  that  in  the  dark  recesses 
of  the  catacombs  the  torch  of  a  brighter  science  has  been  kindled, 
which  has  already  burned  in  beauty  to  the  surface,  and  is  spreading 
hope  and  life  among  the  barbarous  hordes  who  descend  upon  the 
exhausted  East  to  destroy,  but  are  destined  to  return  laden  with 
the  richest  blessings  for  the  West.  Even  Trajan  desired  that  the 
feeble  and  despised  disciples  of  the  Nazarene  should  be  required  to 
sacrifice  to  pagan  gods,  and  to  be  punished  if  they  refused.  The 
same  system  was  continued  under  Adrian,  Antoninus,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius.  But,  under  the  command  of  the  latter  emperor,  a  legion 
wholly  composed  of  Christians,  insured,  by  its  valor,  a  victory  to 
the  Roman  army,  and  a  new  power  was  evidently  gaining  the  as- 


192 


AUGUSTUS. 


cendency.  As  a  succeeding  cycle  draws  near,  the  final  struggles 
of  the  old  grow  spasmodic.  From  a.  d.  302,  to  311,  in  every  part 
of  the  empire,  martyr  blood  was  shed  in  torrents ;  and  soon  after, 
Christianity,  triumphant,  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  with 
Constantine.  From  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  the  new 
faith  was  contented  with  issuing  the  humblest  forms  of  apology  to 
its  persecutors,  and  trimmed  its  lamp  in  meek  seclusion,  aided 
mainly  by  St.  Justin,  and  Tertullian.  But  in  the  third  century, 
<Dhristian  literature  became  more  scientific.  It  was  the  beginning 
of  theology,  and  the  formal  construction  of  dogmas.  This  work, 
like  all  other  tides  of  progress,  began  in  the  remote  East,  and  swept 
perpetually  toward  the  West.  Alexandria  was  the  first  great 
school,  and  Clement,  Origen,  and  Cyprian,  the  leading  masters. 
They  with  their  associates  and  successors  worked  on  silently,  but 
successfully,  in  their  aggressions  against  paganism,  till  they  had  laid 
the  broad  and  solid  basis  of  a  mightier  civilization  to  come. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


PHILOSOPHY. 

Greek  philosophy  was  early  divided  into  two  great  systems 
represented  by  Plato  and  Aristotle.  The  first  gathered,  the  moral 
beauty  of  his  age  into  his  teaching,  and  was  the  progenitor  of 
moralists ;  while  the  second,  who  came  upon  the  central  highway 
of  civilization  at  a  later  period,  expressed  the  other  half  of  the 
mental  world,  and  was  the  patriarch  of  natural  philosophers.  The 
Platonists  and  Aristotleians  were  perpetuated  in  continuous  but 
separate  lines  of  disciples,  until  both  schools  had  become  quite 
degenerate  in  the  third  century  before  Christ,  when  they  were 
mainly  displaced  during  the  Augustan  age  by  the  disciples  of  Zeno 
and  Epicurus.  Then  began  the  dismemberment  of  Greek  specula- 
tion, and  the  founder  of  the  Academy,  with  his  famous  pupil  and 
rival,  the  first  of  peripatetics,  who  in  their  joint  action  gave  to 
philosophy  all  its  parts,  and  constituted  it  a  science,  were  virtually 
set  aside.  And  yet  portions  of  their  several  systems  continually 
re-appeared  in  the  multiform  schools  which  subsequently  arose ; 
but  so  long  as  philosophical  disquisition  obtained  in  any  sect, 
morals  were  an  inheritance  from  Plato,  and  natural  philosophy  from 
Aristotle. 

Stoicism  and  Epicureanism  originated  at  nearly  the  same  time, 
and  were  in  violent  struggle  with  each  other  until  about  a  century 
before  the  Christian  era.  When  at  the  lowest  degree  of  exhaustion, 
they  passed  into  Rome,  and  were  cultivated  without  any  speculative 
originality,  but  became  in  many  instances  a  favorite  recreation  with 
men  of  might.  The  Periclean  age  had  been  filled  by  a  philosophy 
which,  without  forgetting  the  universe  and  God,  had  especially  a 
human  and  moral  character.  The  age  which  followed  was  intensely 
practical,  and  borrowed  only  such  speculative  theories  as  were  suited 

9 


194 


AUGUSTUS. 


to  their  martial  and  ambitious  pursuits.  The  age  of  Augustus  was 
characterized  throughout  by  eclecticism  in  philosophy,  and  that  not 
of  the  noblest  kind.  But  the  three  great  objects  of  thought,  nature, 
man,  God,  were  not  overlooked  ;  through  the  first  the  culminating 
point  was  reached,  and  as  the  epoch  closed  religious  philosophy 
began  to  beam  with  auspicious  light. 

As  in  the  realm  of  art,  we  found  the  absence  of  all  true  grandeur 
and  simplicity,  so  will  the  facts  appear  in  the  department  now 
under  consideration.  The  sublime  folly  of  Stoicism  only  leads  to 
the  baseness  of  Epicurean  belief.  Such  will  doubtless  be  observed 
down  to  the  second  century  of  Christian  truth  on  earth,  when  there 
was  no  longer  any  thing  great  to  think  or  act  under  the  empire, 
and  the  only  genial  asylum  for  aspiring  souls  was  the  invisible 
world. 

When  Kome  had  become  the  centre  of  civilization,  she  possessed 
no  native  works  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  age.  Greek  literature 
and  philosophy  were  introduced  in  systems  greatly  epitomized,  to 
master  which  was  deemed  an  accomphshment  not  to  be  hoped  for 
by  the  common  mind.  Very  few  acquired  that  more  adequate 
appreciation  which  Cato  and  Scipio,  Atticus  and  Cicero  possessed. 
In  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  there  were  many  illustrious  ex- 
amples of  practical  Stoicism ;  but  the  system  of  philosophy  known 
by  that  name,  though  best  adapted  to  the  mental  structure  of  that 
people,  attained  its  highest  development  not  until  a  late  period 
under  the  empire.  After  the  literary  stores  of  Greece  had  been 
introduced,  each  system  had  its  run,  and  the  hardy  discipline  of  the 
Porch  was  particularly  admired. 

Antisthenes,  the  founder  of  this  Cynical  sect,  was  bom  at  Athens, 
B.  c.  420,  of  a  Thracian  mother.  Hereditary  character  fitted  the 
appropriate  agent  at  the  outset  to  mold  the  destinies  of  western 
hordes.  From  all  accounts,  the  external  conduct  of  Antisthenes 
was  excessively  absurd  and  extravagant ;  but  in  intellect  he  was 
respectable,  and  as  a  man,  was  in  many  respects  superior  to  the 
generality  of  his  followers.  Unlike  them,  he  never  decried  science 
and  literature,  but  was  himself  an  author ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  left 
behind  him  ten  volumes  of  his  works,  though  they  have  all  now  per- 
ished. According  to  Cicero,  he  maintained  the  unity  of  the  supreme 
Being  in  opposition  to  popular  polytheism,  and  that  his  wiitings 


PHILOSOPHY. 


195 


were  valuable,  rather  as  monuments  of  his  sagacity  than  of  his 
erudition. 

Diogenes,  bom  b.  c.  414,  was  extremely  licentious  in  early  life, 
but  at  a  later  period,  as  is  not  uncommon,  rushed  to  the  opposite 
extreme  of  morose  asceticism  and  fanatical  mortification.  All 
writers  represent  his  temperament  as  being  fervid  and  enthusiastic, 
and  his  humor  as  coarse  as  it  was  caustic.  The  fragmentary  say- 
ings of  his  which  have  been  preserved  exhibit  a  homely  fierceness, 
in  which  it  is  diflBcult  to  say  whether  the  character  of  sagacity  or 
scurrility  most  predominates.  Calling  out  once,  "Men,  come 
hither,"  and  numbers  flocking  about  him,  he  beat  them  all  away 
with  a  stick,  saying,  "  I  called  for  men,  and  not  varlets."  Seeing 
some  women  hanged  upon  an  olive  tree,  "  I  wish,"  remarked  he, 
"  that  all  trees  bore  the  same  fruit !"  Such  indiscriminate  scoflSng 
tended  to  repress  the  nobler  impulses  of  our  better  nature,  and  to 
chill  that  enthusiasm  without  which  nothing  great  or  good  was 
ever  accomplished.  It  was  an  intrinsicall}^  mean  spirit,  clearly 
seen  and  well  rebuked  on  the  occasion  referred  to  in  the  following 
anecdote  :  When  Diogenes  trod  upon  Plato's  robe,  and  exclaimed, 
"  I  trample  under  foot  the  pride  of  Plato,"  the  sage  repHed,  "  True, 
but  it  is  with  the  greater  pride  of  Diogenes." 

Zeno  was  bom  b.  c.  362,  at  Citium,  on  the  coast  of  Cyprus.  His 
father  was  engaged  in  commerce,  and  had  imported  some  disquisi- 
tions written  by  the  pupils  of  Socrates.  The  sparks  from  Athens 
fell  where  they  kindled,  and  young  Zeno  seon  devoted  himself 
wholly  to  philosophy.  The  Cynic,  Crates,  prepared  him  for  still 
maturer  discipline  under  the  tuition  of  Xenocrates  and  of  Stilpo. 
After  this  protracted  preparation,  he  opened  a  school  of  his  own, 
and  selected  the  Portico,  a  public  edifice,  ornamented  with  pictorial 
works  by  Polygnotus,  Myco,  and  Pandamus.  Hence  the  descriptive 
phrase  In  the  history  of  philosophy  of  the  Painted  Porch,  and  the 
philosophers  of  the  Porch.  The  regularity  of  life,  severity  of  doc- 
trine, and  keenness  of  argument  common  to  this  new  master,  gave 
him  great  influence  through  a  long  life.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
tall  in  stature,  thin  in  person,  and  abstemious,  with  a  countenance 
by  no  means  attractive.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
eight.  In  his  later  period,  Epicurus  grew  apprehensive  of  his  per- 
petually growing  fame,  and  was  jealous  of  his  moral  superiority. 


196 


AUGUSTUS. 


Cleanthes,  born  b.  c.  320,  greatly  modified  the  doctrines  of 
the  Stoical  school.  He  was  originally  a  wrestler,  and  preserved 
through  life  much  of  that  hardy  vigor  of  body  which  qualified  him 
for  the  functions  of  a  gladiator.  He  was  extremely  poor,  and 
whilst  attending  the  school  of  Zeno  by  day,  he  was  compelled  to 
work  at  night  to  earn  a  scanty  sustenance.  It  is  related  that  his 
robust  appearance,  whilst  apparently  an  idler,  excited  municipal 
suspicion ;  and  when  he  was  required  to  account  for  his  mode  of 
living,  a  gardener  for  whom  he  drew  water,  and  a  woman  for  whom 
he  ground  flour,  came  forward  to  attest  his  honest  industry.  He 
was  not  quick  to  invent,  but  was  indefatigable  to  explore  what 
others  had  taught.  Fifty-six  volumes  are  said  to  have  been  wiitten 
by  him,  but  none  of  them  are  now  extant. 

Chrysippus,  born  in  Cilicia,  b.  c.  280 ;  and  Posidonius,  who  died 
B.  c.  135,  were  the  chief  links  to  extend  this  chain  westward,  and 
connect  it  with  that  great  Stoic  who  arose  on  the  remotest  border 
of  the  Augustan  age. 

Lucius  Annseus  Seneca  was  born  at  Cordova,  only  eight  years 
before  Christ.  His  father  was  an  eminent  writer  on  rhetoric,  some 
of  whose  productions  are  still  extant.  The  son  was  delicate  in 
health,  but  nothing  could  repress  his  love  of  research.  He  first 
studied  the  Peripatetic  philosophy  under  Papirius  Fabian,  and 
afterwards,  as  far  as  a  master  who  professed  to  despise  all  learning 
could  teach,  he  learned  the  follies  of  the  Cynics  from  Demetrius. 
By  his  father's  request,  Seneca  then  entered  upon  public  life,  and 
became  a  pleader  at  the  bar.  In  this  walk  he  so  far  distinguished 
himself  as  finally  to  become  a  distinguished  favorite  in  the  court  of 
Claudius.  But  in  consequence  of  some  difiiculty  respecting  JuHa, 
the  daughter  of  Germanic  us,  he  fell  into  disgrace,  and  was  banished 
to  the  island  of  Corsica.  It  is  said  that  Agrippina,  the  mother  of 
Nero,  interceded  in  his  behalf,  and  Seneca  was  recalled.  On  re- 
turning to  Rome,  he  first  became  the  tutor  of  Nero,  and  subse- 
quently his  minister.  The  wretched  pupil,  in  the  exercise  of 
imperial  suspicion,  as  false  probably  as  it  was  murderous,  caused 
his  teacher  and  friend  to  be  destroyed.  From  the  exhausted  and 
emaciated  state  of  his  frame,  the  death  of  Seneca  is  reported  to 
have  been  a  painful  one.  In  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  other 
'friends,  he  opened  the  veins  of  his  arms  and  legs ;  and,  as  the  pro- 


PHILOSOPHY. 


197 


cess  was  too  slow,  he  ordered  a  draught  of  poison  to  be  adminis- 
tered to  him.  Still  lingering,  he  desired  to  be  laid  in  a  warm  bath, 
and  as  he  entered,  he  sprinkled  the  standers  by,  saying,  "  I  offer 
this  libation  to  Jupiter  the  deliverer."  His  vital  blood  then  gushed 
forth,  and  he  speedily  expired. 

Epictetus,  whose  living  influence  extended  towards  the  end  of  the 
second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  was  the  great  ornament  of  the 
Stoic  school  during  the  reigns  of  Domitian  and  Hadrian.  He  was 
born  a  slave,  and  was  maimed  in  person,  but  obtained  his  manu- 
mission by  excellence  of  conduct,  and  proved  himself  one  of  the 
best  monitors  of  his  age.  Ten  years  later,  the  emperor  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  Antoninus  came  forth  the  next  in  succession  to  this  illustrious 
slave  among  the  ornaments  of  the  Stoic  school.  The  reign  of  this 
victorious  and  philosophic  monarch  forms  part  of  the  happy  period 
in  which  the  vast  extent  of  the  Roman  empire  has  been  character- 
ized as  having  "  been  governed  by  absolute  power  under  the  guid- 
ance of  virtue  and  wisdom.''  Antoninus  early  profited  by  the 
lessons  of  severe  wisdom,  and  honored  them  by  an  exemplary  life. 
In  his  palace  he  preserved  the  systematic  regularity  of  a  general, 
and  in  his  camp  he  composed  a  great  part  of  those  philosophical 
meditations  which  have  cast  so  much  renown  on  his  name.  The 
lives  of  Cato  and  Brutus  also,  the  one  more  formal  and  severe,  as 
of  a  person  evidently  aiming  to  support  a  character,  the  other  more 
genial  and  free,  like  one  who  had  really  caught  the  spirit  of  the  old 
repubhcan  time,  were  molded  strongly  by  the  same  creed.  Both 
were  true  utterances  of  Roman  Stoicism,  and  have  thrown  a  splen- 
dor around  the  doctrine  which  it  could  never  have  obtained  either 
from  its  first  teachers  or  from  Seneca  and  the  rhetoricians  who  per- 
petuated its  vitiating  existence  down  to  the  lowest  point  of  feeble- 
ness. 

When  Greek  philosophy  was  introduced  among  the  Romans, 
Stoicism  was  the  most  popular,  but  the  creed  of  Epicurus  was 
adopted  by  many  distinguished  men.  The  popular  poem  of  Lucre- 
tius was  a  captivating  recommendation  of  the  system  to  many ;  and 
other  writers,  such  as  Horace  and  Atticus,  Pliny  the  younger,  and 
Lucian  of  Samosata,  are  known  to  have  been  of  this  school. 

Epicurus  was  born  in  the  island  of  Samos,  b.  c.  341.  When  in 
his  thirty-second  year,  he  first  opened  a  school  at  Mitylene,  where, 


198 


AUGUSTUS. 


and  at  Lampsacus,  he  taught  for  five  years.  This  was  at  the  time 
when  sophists  and  sensuahsts  were  wanted  at  Rome,  and  they  were 
brought  there  as  part  of  the  spoils  of  the  conqueror,  to  march,  hke 
other  slaves,  in  his  triumph,  and  furnish  an  additional  luxury. 
When  Rome  had  become  pohtically  dominant  to  the  largest  extent, 
she  yet  remained  in  arts  and  letters  the  humble  pupil  of  Greece. 
Augustan  literature,  in  all  of  its  departments,  was  to  a  great  degree 
borrowed  from  the  Greek,  but  with  every  kind  of  derivative  process, 
from  servile  translation  to  the  most  adroit  adaptation.  Lucretius, 
Catullus,  Horace,  Virgil,  Cicero,  were  all  indebted  to  Greek  models, 
as  well  as  Terence,  Ovid,  and  Seneca,  but  each  to  a  graduated 
extent.  They  all  borrowed  according  to  their  wants,  each  one 
transforming  his  plunder  with  more  or  less  originahty,  according 
to  the  powers  of  his  mind.  Philosophy  at  Rome  emitted  many 
sparks  of  light,  fragments  of  moral  truth,  but  left  behind  no  sym- 
metrical and  consistent  system  except  that  of  Epicurus,  a  creed 
formed  on  a  plain  so  low  that  no  declination  could  be  made  to 
appear.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  while  of  the  eight  teachers  in 
the  Porch,  from  Zeno  to  Posidonius,  every  one  modified  the  doc- 
trines of  his  predecessor ;  and  while  the  beautiful  philosophy  of 
Plato  had  degenerated  into  dishonorable  scepticism,  the  Epicurean 
system  remained  unchanged.  This  has  been  accounted  for  on  the 
ground  just  mentioned,  and  also  with  reference  to  the  power  of  that 
mental  indolence  which  disposes  the  mind  to  rest  contented  with 
views  that  are  comprehensible  without  reflection,  and  which  are 
not  inimical  to  the  indulgence  of  lust.  The  more  thoughtful 
Romans  were  obliged  to  take  what  they  could  get,  and  they  adopted 
the  late  and  degenerated  systems  of  Greek  philosophy  for  two  rea- 
sons :  first,  they  had  a  natural  affinity  for  them,  and  secondly,  they 
were  incapable  of  appreciating  the  earlier  and  better  schools.  The 
doctrine  of  Epicurus  attracted  a  crowd  of  partisans  in  the  martial 
metropolis,  in  consequence  of  its  accommodating  character,  and  the 
indulgence  it  aff"orded  to  the  most  groveling  desires.  But  very  few 
of  the  Romon  Epicureans  distinguished  themselves  as  philosophers, 
and  not  one  advanced  a  step  beyond  the  doctrines  of  his  master. 

Lucretius  Carus,  born  b.  c.  95,  claims  a  place  among  philoso- 
phers as  well  as  poets.  In  his  time,  the  Epicurean  principles 
obtained  the  greatest  popularity,  and  that  in  no  small  degree 


PHILOSOPHY. 


199 


througli  his  own  splendid  talents.  Consistently  with  his  fi-jgid 
atheism,  and  proud  rejection  of  a  superintending  Providence,  the 
perverted  child  of  genius,  who  had  risen  on  the  breath  of  popular 
favor  to  the  equestrian  rank,  died  a  wretched  suicide  when  only 
forty-four  years  old. 

We  should  not  forget  that  the  Epicureans,  the  Stoics,  the  Acade- 
mics, and  other  sects,  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Alexander,  are  not 
to  be  spoken  of  as  the  Greek  schools.  They  belong  to  a  later  and 
generally  different  age,  in  which  little  of  philosophic  worth  was 
produced,  and  still  less  remains.  Of  Epicurus  three  letters  are  pre- 
served by  Diogenes  Laertius ;  of  Zeno,  nothing ;  of  Cleanthes,  a 
single  hymn  to  Jupiter ;  of  the  Academics,  or  New  Platonists,  a 
few  traditions  only. 

The  device  on  an  old  Roman  coin,  of  Julius  Caesar  bearing  a 
book  in  one  hand  and  a  sword  in  the  other,  represents  the  genius 
of  many  a  distinguished  citizen  of  the  Republic.  Of  such  was 
Varro,  for  he  was  a  soldier,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  erudite 
of  his  countrymen.  He  was  bom  at  Rieti,  near  the  celebrated  cas- 
<?ade  of  Terni,  in  Italy,  Csesar  appreciated  the  extensive  learning 
of  Varro,  and  entrusted  to  him  the  formation  of  the  great  pubHc 
library.  He  was  a  man  of  ponderous  information  and  unwearied 
industry,  but  without  a  spark  of  literary  taste  or  philosophical 
genius.  No  Roman  author  wrote  so' much  as  he  did,  and,  except- 
ing Pliny,  no  one  probably  read  so  much ;  yet,  notwithstanding  all 
his  learning  and  diligence,  he  has  left  nothing  that  is  possessed  of 
either  superiScial  polish  or  substantial  worth. 

Not  so  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero.  He  was  born  b.  c.  107,  and  in 
the  realm  of  philosophy,  as  in  eloquence,  was  the  noblest  Roman 
of  them  all.  Like  most  young  men  of  good  family,  he  was 
instructed  by  Greek  preceptors,  and  early  occupied  himself  with 
ancient  philosophy,  directing  his  attention  principally  to  the  Aca- 
demic and  Stoic  systems.  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Epicurus  engrossed 
his  esteem  by  turns,  as  he  was  an  eclectic  in  taste,  and  confined 
himself  to  no  particular  school.  But  his  philosophical  works, 
wrought  upon  the  model  of  Plato,  are  the  most  valuable  collection 
of  interesting  discussions  on  the  grandest  themes.  In  the  era  of 
Cicero,  scepticism  and  dogmatism  distracted  the  schools  and  de- 
stroyed the  life  of  philosophy.    As  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  said, 


200 


AUGUSTUS. 


"  The  Sceptics  could  only  perplex,  and  confute,  and  destroy.  Their 
occupation  was  gone  as  soon  as  they  succeeded.  They  had  nothing 
to  substitute  for  Avhat  they  overthrew  ;  and  they  rendered  their  own 
art  of  no  further  use.  They  were  no  more  than  venomous  animals, 
who  stung  their  victims  to  death,  but  also  breathed  their  last  into 
the  wound." 

Cicero  speculated  after  a  mode  whicli  admitted  of  great  freedom 
to  his  genius,  controlled  by  no  particular  sect,  but  was  at  heart 
most  interested  in  the  severest  principles,  and  became  almost  a 
Stoic.  Doubtless  that  was  the  noblest  school  then  extant,  the  most 
harmonious  with  the  spirit  of  Eome,  and  which  preserved  her 
greatest  citizens  amid  the  dissoluteness  and  ferocity  of  her  imperial 
career.  The  ennobling  influence  exerted  by  that  system  was  exena- 
plified  while  it  exalted  the  slave  of  one  of  Nero's  courtiers  to 
l^ecome  an  efficient  moral  teacher,  and  breathed  equity  and  mercy 
into  the  ordinary  concerns  of  every  man.  Especially  was  it  honored 
by  the  examples  of  Marcius  Fortius  Cato,  and  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
Antoninus,  who  did  much  to  keep  alive  a  loftier  regard  for  virtue 
and  truth  throughout  all  time. 

The  historians  of  philosophy  have  often  admired  the  memorable 
scenes  in  whicli  Caesar  mastered  a  nobility  of  which  Lucullus  and 
Hortensius,  Sulpicius  and  Catullus,  Pompey  and  Gcero,  Brutus 
and  Cato,  were  members.  From  the  time  of  Scipio,  they  had 
sought  the  Greek  philosophy  as  an  amusement  or  an  ornament. 
The  influence  of  the  degenerate  Grecian  systems  was  exerted  upon 
all  the  leading  spirits  of  Rome  during  five  centuries,  from  Carneades 
to  Constantine.  Cassius  was  an  Epicurean,  and  so  was  the  adroit 
time-server  Atticus,  the  courtier  of  each  fortunate  tyrant  of  the 
hour,  who  could  embrace  Cicero  in  all  the  apparent  frankness  of 
true  friendship,  and  then  abandon  him  to  kiss  the  hand  of  Anthony, 
imbrued  in  his  blood.  Marcus  Brutus  represented  the  nobler 
school  of  Flato ;  and  if  in  a  fearful  crisis  he  trampled  on  all  venerr 
able  precedents  of  justice  to  guard  the  sacred  principle  itself,  it  was 
the  result  of  a  direful  necessity  whicli  he  could  neither  avoid  nor 
resist. 

Krug,  in  his  history  of  philosophy,  admits  only  two  divisions, 
those  of  ancient  and  modern.  He  assumes  as  the  line  of  demar- 
cation, the  decline  of  government,  manners,  arts,  and  sciences,  during 


PHILOSOPHY. 


201 


the  first  five  centuries  of  tlie  Christian  era.  In  the  above  rapid 
review,  we  have  already  passed  the  culminating  point  in  pagan 
philosophy  at  Rome,  in  the  age  of  Augustus  and  Cicero.  When 
Alexander  had  annihilated  the  repubhcan  liberty  of  Greece,  he 
opened  the  way  for  an  active  commerce  between  the  East  and  the 
West,  which  greatly  contributed  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  the  new 
type  of  dialectic  science.  From  Periclean  excellence,  a  progressive 
decline  became  observable  in  the  spirit  of  philosophy,  which  was 
continuously  directed  to  humbler  objects,  of  a  more  pedantic  char- 
acter, in  commentaries,  and  compilations  without  end. .  Thus 
Alexandria,  from  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies,  became  the  point  of 
departure  whence  all  the  remnants  of  ancient  wisdom  emigrated  to 
the  opening  wilds  of  the  West.  Every  thing  was  wisely  arranged 
with  this  intent.  Indian  sages  came  there  to  mediate,  and  perceived 
the  connection  between  their  faith  and  the  old  Egyptian  mysteries. 
The  Persian,  who  had  before  waged  war  against  those  mysteries,  at 
length  declared  his  belief  in  the  conflict  of  good  and  evil  powers. 
Thither  came  a  powerful  colony  of  Jews,  and  not  only  built  a  tem- 
ple in  Egypt,  but  at  the  command  of  an  Egyptian  monarch  the 
Jewish  scriptures  were  translated  into  Greek.  The  same  country 
where  speculation  began  was  destined  to  accumulate  at  the  most 
favorable  point  the  latest  productions,  amalgamated  into  a  form 
exactly  fitted  to  prospective  uses,  and  then,  through  other  agencies 
as  wonderfully  prepared  be  transmitted  to  the  corresponding  field. 
From  Moses  to  Christ,  every  intellectual  stream  was  made  to  be 
tributary  to  that  central  river ;  and  from  Christ  to  Constantine,  the 
direction  and  destination  are  identical  still.  When  Egj^t  became 
a  Roman  province,  proof  was  given  that  there  was  something 
stronger  in  the  world  than  Greek  subtilty,  and  which  in  turn  could 
be  equally  well  subordinate  to  the  ultimate  good  of  mankind. 
Three  Greeks,  masters  of  the  Peripatetic,  Academic,  and  Stoic  doc- 
trines, were  sent  as  hostages  of  war  to  Rome,  at  the  same  time  that 
LucuUus  and  Sylla  were  enriching  the  Capitol  with  conquered 
libraries.  The  latter,  after  the  capture  of  Athens,  b.  c.  84,  sent 
thither  the  collection  of  Apellicon,  which  was  particularly  rich  in 
the  works  of  Aristotle.  It  is  worthy  of  special  note  that  then  and 
there  the  works  of  the  great  founder  of  later  systems  were  first 
published.   But  simultaneously  with  the  era  when  Greece  had  lost 

9* 


202 


AUGUSTUS. 


her  political  existence,  and  Rome  her  republican  constitution,  the 
spirit  of  ancient  research  was  exhausted,  and  a  new  philosophy- 
arose  from  the  decay  of  effete  systems.  A  fresh  dogmatical  sys- 
tem was  established  by  the  New  Platonists  on  a  broader  basis,  in 
order  to  prop  up  the  ancient  religion,  and  to  oppose  a  barrier  to 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  new,  but  which  ended  in  the  wildest 
metaphysical  dreams.  In  the  mean  time.  Christian  teachers,  who 
at  first  rejected  and  condemned  Greek  philosophy,  ended  by  adopt- 
ing it,  in  part  at  least,  thus  intending  to  complete  and  fortify  their 
religious  system.  This  work  of  fundamental  preparation  continued 
until  the  disunion  of  the  eastern  and  western  empires  opened  the 
way  for  the  erection  of  that  grand  and  romantic  superstructure  for 
which  the  world  was  by  the  above  instrumentahties  prepared. 

It  was  well  observed  by  Justin  Martyr,  "  Those  persons  before 
the  Christian  era,  who  endeavored  by  the  strength  of  human  under- 
standing to  investigate  and  ascertain  the  nature  of  things,  were 
brought  into  the  courts  of  justice  as  impious  and  over-curious." 
But  with  the  Messiah  came  more  auspicious  days,  when  on  all  sides 
schools  arose  whose  ruling  character  was  religious,  and  whose  pro- 
cesses were  no  longer  abstraction,  but  inspiration  and  illumination. 
Philo,  born  some  years  before  Christ,  and  Numerius,  two  centuries 
after,  both  leaders  of  Jewish  cabals  ;  and  the  leading  Gnostics,  Si- 
mon Magus,  Menander  the  Samaritan,  and  Corinthus,  of  the  first 
century,  as  well  as  Saturninus,  Basilides,  Carpocrates,  and  Valen- 
tinus,  of  the  second,  all  had  an  important  preparatory  work  to  per- 
form. Plotinus  and  Porphyry,  too,  wrought  a  good  work  in  their 
day.  And  when  the  apostate  Julian,  as  the  incarnated  school  of 
Alexandria,  became  the  hero  of  mysticism,  and  ascended  the  throne 
of  Rome,  it  was  that  thus  he  might  more  manifestly  extinguish  the 
lingering  brilliancy  of  the  East,  and  occasion  a  fairer  unfolding  in 
the  West.  With  him  and  Proclus,  sensualism  and  idealism  ended, 
and  Greek  philosophy  expired  in  giving  birth  to  that  new  civiliza- 
tion which  dates  fi'om  the  sixth  century. 

Modern  scholars  have  searched  through  the  voluminous  com- 
mentators upon  Aristotle,  which  the  learned  eclecticism  of  the 
third,  fourth,  and  fifth  centuries  of  our  era  produced,  some  of  them 
still  only  existing  in  manuscript,  but  have  found  but  little  worthy 
of  preservation.    The  time  had  come  when  one  could  no  longer 


PHILOSOPHY.  203 

hear  Plato,  in  his  own  silvery  tongue,  delivering  that  allegory 
which  compares  the  human  soul  to  a  chariot  with  winged  horses 
and  driver,  and  which  resolves  its  purest  thoughts  into  reminis- 
cences of  a  brighter  life  and  nobler  companionship.  During  the 
martial  sway  of  imperial  Rome,  the  beautiful  philosophic  fabric 
which  the  Greeks  had  fashioned,  like  the  web  of  Penelope,  was  mu- 
tilated, defaced,  and  nearly  destroyed. 

The  Romans  were  more  arbitrary  in  their  ideas  than  the  Greeks, 
and  much  less  inventive ;  they  were  neither  as  acute  to  demonstrate, 
nor  as  methodical  to  arrange  the  elements  and  results  of  knowledge. 
The  literary  medium  of  their  theories  was  as  declamatory  as  their 
notions  were  loose,  and  both  their  political  and  moral  habits  tended 
to  obscure  their  dim  conceptions  of  moral  truth.  The  only  redeem- 
ing quality  amongst  them,  was  national  vigor,  displayed  mainly  in 
warlike  pursuits.  From  the  first,  the  citizens  of  the  Republic  seem 
to  have  anticipated  the  attainment  of  universal  empire,  and  they 
put  forth  endeavors  commensurate  with  the  presentiment  they  felt 
with  regard  to  their  destiny.  Though  unworthy  to  claim  suprem- 
acy of  esteem  for  any  mental  or  philosophical  enterprise  of  their 
own,  it  should  be  said  to  their  credit,  that  they  entertained  a  more 
vivid  and  enduring  belief  in  the  dignity  and  predetermined  neces- 
sity of  human  advancement  than  was  common  to  the  Greeks.  But 
national  excellence  in  the  realms  of  refined  art  and  thought,  was 
not  to  be  expected  while  they  assigned  these  pursuits  chiefly  to 
slaves.  Virgil  made  one  of  his  a  poet ;  and  Horace  himself,  like 
several  inferior  authors,  was  the  son  of  a  freedman.  Leading  phi- 
losophers and  coarsest  bufibons,  the  preceptor  who  taught,  and  the 
physician  who  healed,  the  architect  who  built,  and  the  undertaker 
who  buried,  were  all  vassals.  It  has  been  said  by  the  most  valid 
authority,  that  not  an  avocation,  connected  with  agriculture,  manu- 
factures, or  education,  can  be  named,  but  it  was  the  patrimony  of 
slaves. 

Providence  is  to  be  honored  by  a  grateful  recognition  of  the 
part  Rome  performed  in  human  advancement.  Perpetual  peace  is 
the  hypothesis  of  absolute  immobility.  But  as  progress  is  necessi- 
tated on  the  part  of  imperfect  creatures  in  their  perpetual  approach 
towards  perfection,  war  will  be  certain  sometimes,  and  may  al- 
ways be  profitable.    War  is  the  bloody  exchange  of  ideas,  shocks 


204 


AUGUSTUS. 


incident  to  the  car  of  improvement.  The  truth  which  was 
victorious  and  absolute  yesterday,  becomes  relatively  false  to-day, 
and  will  need  to  be  conquered  by  a  greater  and  more  enduring 
truth  to-morrow.  That,  in  turn,  will  have  to  retreat  before  some 
superior  good,  and  thus  only  can  consummate  excellence  be  at- 
tained. Great  leaders,  whether  martial  or  mental,  are  but  embodied 
ideas,  actuating  and  transforming  the  ages  ;  and  every  thing  about 
them,  even  their  death,  is  but  a  phenomenon  of  universal  life. 
Platea  and  Salamis,  Arbela  and  Pharsalia,  were  the  great  steps  of 
democracy  toward  universal  mastership.  Victory  always  remains 
with  the  new  spirit ;  and  freedom,  like  truth,  never  can  become 
old ;  they  are  in  God,  and  thereby  the  final  battle  and  widest  con- 
quest must  eventually  be  secured.  Not  one  great  campaign  was 
ever  lost  to  humanity,  nor  ever  will  be.  Every  historical  nation 
has  had  specific  seed  given  it  to  sow,  from  the  harvest  of  which 
succeeding  nations  have  derived  strength  to  cultivate  a  rougher,  but 
richer,  field.  The  scenery  changes  with  each  act  performed,  but 
the  plot  goes  steadily  on.  God  is  making  the  tour  of  the  world, 
and  every  new  phase  of  civilization  is  an  additional  proof  of  a 
divinely  identical  plan. 

The  first  great  element  of  humanity  which  received  a  full  devel- 
opment was  beauty,  the  nearest  in  space,  and  most  like  in  character, 
to  Eden.  The  next  was  force,  that  which  was  most  requisite  to  take 
up  and  carry  forward  the  materials  of  after  growth,  and  this  was  un- 
folded in  a  position  the  most  central  and  adapted  to  its  compre- 
hensive design.  The  third  element  was  science  ;  the  discriminating, 
purifying,  enlarging,  and  consolidating  power  destined  to  bear  the 
precious  aggregation  of  lapsed  cycles  upon  the  immense  stage 
whereon  should  be  unfolded  an  amelioration  the  most  complete, 
through  the  richest  benefits  both  human  and  divine.  It  was  not 
possible  for  these  to  have  a  simultaneous  development,  but  were 
vouchsafed  in  their  proper  order,  that  they  might  best  insure  the 
highest  result.  An  epoch  is  the  period  required  by  a  given  prin- 
ciple for  its  matured  growth,  and  will  be  displaced  by  its  successor 
through  some  form  of  revolution.  When  the  commission  assigned 
a  timely  idea  is  performed,  it  will  be  superseded  because  the  ad- 
vent of  its  superior  has  come  ;  but  the  antiquated  ever  wars  against 
the  necessity  of  removal,  and  sees  not  that  progressive  destiny  has 


PHILOSOPHY. 


205 


rendered  it  obsolete.  Hence  the  need  of  constraint,  sometimes 
through  arguments,  and  sometimes  through  arms.  But  in  e very- 
instance,  the  successor  adds  completeness  to  what  went  before,  and 
all  the  diversity  of  epochs  and  arms  conduce  to  but  one  and  the 
same  end.  Wait  the  rising  of  the  next  curtain,  if  you  would  better 
understand  the  wisdom  of  the  transpiring  plot.  If  one  asks  why 
this  or  that  nation  came  into  the  world,  answer  by  noting  what 
there  was  to  do,  what  idea  to  represent,  and  what  means  to  be  em- 
ployed. "We  have  seen  what  Greece  existed  for,  and  there  is  no 
more  mystery  as  to  the  mission  of  Rome.  We  give  an  explanation 
of  her  wars,  but  have  no  apology  to  offer  in  their  behalf. 

The  evening  of  Greek  philosophy  threw  a  few  beautiful  rays  over 
the  dark  and  tempestuous  domain  of  the  Augustan  age.  Its  early 
lessons  taught  the  Roman  generals  to  appreciate  the  mental  trea- 
sures which  lay  upon  the  track  of  their  remote  campaigns,  and 
mitigated  the  savageness  of  war  with  the  amenities  of  moral  excel- 
lence. The  classical  tour  of  JEmilius,  and  the  more  refined  pur- 
suits of  Africanus,  were  greatly  superior  to  the  coarseness  of  the 
earlier  Anitius  and  the  ignorant  Mummius.  Still  more  enlightened 
was  the  age  and  its  heroes,  when  Sylla  enjoyed  at  Athens  the 
refined  conversation  of  Atticus,  his  political  opponent,  and  bore 
about  with  him  the  inestimable  writings  of  Aristotle.  At  the  brief 
epoch  of  culmination,  Caesar,  from  the  remotest  provinces,  corres- 
ponded with  Cicero  on  philosophical  topics ;  and  Pompey,  when  he 
had  accepted  the  submission  of  both  the  East  and  the  West,  low- 
ered his  fasces  in  reverence  of  the  wisdom  of  Posidosius. 

Cato  deprecated  the  introduction  of  Greek  philosophy  into  his 
country,  because  he  foresaw  that  in  learning  to  dispute  upon  all 
things,  the  Romans  would  end  by  believing  in  nothing.  The  result 
verified  the  foreboding.  Though  repeatedly  banished  from  the 
metropolis,  the  degenerate  philosophers  triumphed  over  the  resist- 
ance of  laws,  the  wisdom  of  the  senate,  and  the  destinies  of  the 
eternal  city.  A  few  dreamers,  armed  with  scepticism,  accom- 
plished what  the  world's  entire  force  was  unable  to  achieve ;  they 
conquered  with  opinions  the  superb  Repubhc  which  had  subjugated 
earth  with  arms,  thus  adding  another  fact  confirmatory  of  the  gene- 
ral truth,  that  all  the  empires  which  history  has  recognized  as 
established  by  time  and  prudence,  sophists  have  overthrown. 


1 


206 


AUGUSTUS. 


When  a  false  maxim  becomes  a  ruling  principle  in  popular  opinion, 
the  logic  of  nations,  mightier  than  cannon,  bears  a  fearful  force  for 
evil,  as  otherwise  it  is  the  most  powerful  agent  of  good.  An  indi- 
vidual may  be  made  to  recoil  before  conclusions,  communities 
never.  A  fatal  charm  more  potent  than  the  horror  of  self-destruc- 
tion entices  them,  and  even  in  perishing  they  obey  a  general  law, 
the  inflexible  rectitude  of  which  can  never  be  exhausted,  whether 
applied  to  error  or  truth,  and  by  virtue  of  which  the  upright  are 
preserved  until  their  goodness  has  been  most  widely  and  enduringly 
diffused.  As  every  doctrine  is  composed  necessarily  of  truth  or 
error,  usually  a  mixture  of  both,  there  is  an  influence  for  good  or 
evil  wrought  upoQ  the  minds  wherein  it  is  received.  But  while 
falsehood  may  in  some  ages  and  places  so  accumulate  as  to  work  ruin 
to  a  degree,  the  mightier  truth  is  in  reserve  which  in  due  time  will 
readjust  the  balance,  and  augment  the  good.  False  religion  pre- 
sided over  the  cradle  of  ancient  nations,  and  false  philosophy 
attended  them  to  the  tomb ;  nevertheless,  each  succeeding  birth 
and  death  was  a  fresh  ascent  toward  fairer  realms  and  brighter 
hopes.  The  civilization  of  Rome  was  exceedingly  imperfect. 
Much  expense  was  employed  to  entertain  the  populace,  but  there 
was  little  virtue  in  their  instruction.  From  all  quarters  of  the 
known  world  crowds  gathered  in  their  theatres ;  literature  and  art 
flourished  after  a  fashion,  and  extreme  courtesy  for  a  while  added 
attractions  to  an  effeminate  and  voluptuous  philosophy.  The  peo- 
ple yielded  to  the  blandishments  so  congenial  to  gross  tastes,  and 
their  history  celebrates  a  period  of  happiness  such  as  Romans  could 
enjoy,  that  characteristic  felicity  which  began  under  the  Triumvir- 
ate, and  with  Nero  found  a  fitting  end. 

Greece  developed  individuality  of  the  finest  type,  and  Rome 
created  a  social  compact  on  the  grandest  scale ;  but  it  was  reserved 
for  a  yet  further  step  in  westward  civilization  to  blend  these  two 
elements,  personal  independence  and  social  loyalty,  under  the 
auspices  of  liberty  governed  by  law.  Neither  the  Greeks  nor 
Romans  had  a  separate  term  for  institution,  that  truest  exponent  of 
modern  society.  But  this  grand  conservative  and  redeeming  power 
in  due  time  appeared,  when  there  arose,  amidst  the  ruins  of 
exhausted  imperialism,  a  society  both  young  and  ardent,  united  in 
a  firm  and  fruitful  faith,  inwardly  gifted  with  preternatural  power. 


PHILOS  O  PHY. 


207 


and  endowed  with  an  unlimited  capacity  for  external  expansion. 
This  was  Christianity,  the  blessed  philosophy  of  God  on  earth. 
The  necessity  of  replying  to  heathen  adversaries,  and  the  desire  of 
defining  and  enforcing  the  Christian  doctrines,  gradually  led  to  the 
formation  of  a  species  of  philosophy  peculiar  to  Christianity,  and 
which  successively  assumed  different  aspects,  with  respect  to  its 
principles  and  object.  The  spirit  of  Grecian  philosophy  thus  trans- 
ferred into  the  writings  of  the  early  fathers,  in  after  times  proved 
the  material  germ  of  original  speculations.  Justin  Martyr,  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  Tertullian,  Arnobius,  and  Lactantius,  first  employed 
philosophy  as  an  auxiliary  to  assist  in  winning  over  the  more  culti- 
vated classes  to  the  Christian  religion.  Subsequently  it  was  turned 
to  the  refutation  of  heresies,  and  lastly  applied  to  the  elucidation 
and  formal  statement  of  the  prevailing  creed. 

Most  distinguished  of  his  age  was  Aurelius  Augustinus,  born 
A.  D.  354,  at  Tagaste  in  Africa.  After  having  studied  the  scholas- 
tic philosophy,  and  became  an  ardent  disciple  of  the  Manicheans, 
he  was  converted  to  the  orthodox  faith  under  the  preaching  of 
Ambrose,  at  Milan,  a.  d.  387,  and  eighteen  years  after  was  made 
bishop  of  Hippo.  The  rehgious  philosophy  of  this  great  writer  be- 
came the  pivot  of  dogmatical  science  in  the  West,  and  has  swayed 
the  destinies  of  millions  of  minds  from  the  time  Justinian  closed 
the  classic  schools,  and  the  Gothic  king  Theodoric  put  Boethius,  the 
last  of  the  ancient  philosophers,  to  death.  Augustin,  who  ended 
the  Augustan  age  of  philosophy,  while  yet  far  from  the  great  centre 
of  the  succeeding  age,  now  sleeps  at  Pavia,  in  the  very  bosom  of  its 
domain.  Such  is  the  grand  truth  of  universal  history ;  all  living 
greatness,  and  even  the  remains  of  the  dead,  move  only  toward  the 
West. 


CHAPTER  V. 


EELIGION. 

The  radical  imperfection  of  paganism  in  the  Periclean  age  con- 
sisted in  the  fact  that  all  the  subhme  attributes  of  intellect  hut  served 
to  ennoble  man  in  his  present  being.  The  strength  of  the  moral 
affections,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  the  love  of  truth,  and  all  that 
which  for  the  Christian  is  to  survive  the  grave  and  be  immortally 
augmented  when  separate  from  earth,  to  them  had  httle  or  no 
object  beyond  this  life.  To  direct  and  enjoy  the  present  was  his 
chief  concern,  and  in  his  view  the  universe  was  created  only  to  this 
end.  The  god  of  day  pursued  his  ceaseless  round  to  cheer  his 
waking  toil,  and  the  chaste  queen  of  night  watched  over  his  repose. 
The  universal  Jove  came  down  from  Olympus  to  inspire  him ; 
Minerva  protected  him  with  her  awful  shield  of  wisdom ;  the 
graceful  goddess  of  Love  placed  her  shrine  in  his  heart ;  and  super- 
human beings,  captivated  with  his  superior  charms,  sought  on  earth 
a  loveliness  not  to  be  found  in  heaven.  Even  the  fates  were  subor- 
dinate to  his  welfare,  and  all  existences  centred  round  his  destiny ; 
so  that,  were  he  destroyed,  all  things  would  dissolve  like  an  empty 
pageant,  and  heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  with  all  their  denizens,  would 
case  to  be. 

In  the  Augustan  age  the  condition  of  paganism  was  still  worse. 
When  Rome  rose,  and  steadily  advanced  to  the  attainment  of 
universal  empire,  the  religions  of  all  the  separate  states  subjugated 
were  intimately  interwoven  with  her  political  law,  and  that  was 
concentrated  in  the  metropolis,  whither  the  religions,  like  all  other 
spoils,  were  compelled  to  follow.  Rent  from  their  native  soil,  these 
religions,  like  so  many  automatons,  were  doubly  senseless  and 
impotent.  The  worship  of  Isis  had  a  meaning  in  Egypt,  it  being 
a  reverence  for  the  powers  of  nature ;  in  Rome  it  became  an  idolatry 
which  signified  only  a  sign  and  evidence  of  the  victorious  eagle  of 


RELIGION.  209 

the  city.  The  more  beautiful  and  significant  myths  of  Greece  were 
equally  perverted  or  stupidly  ignored.  Mythologies  the  most 
diverse  and  conflicting  were  brought  together  only  to  contend  with 
and  neutralize  each  other.  There  was  but  one  power  left  that 
seemed  real,  the  emperor.  Temples  were  erected  to  his  honor, 
oaths  were  taken  in  his  name,  sacrifices  were  offered  before  him, 
and  his  statues  alone  offered  an  asylum.  There  was  no  state 
religion,  but  power  and  religion  were  identical.  Man  sacrificing  to 
man  sank  to  the  lowest  degradation  of  spiritual  vassalage.  Inspiring 
sentiment  and  religious  fervor  were  extinguished,  leaving  nothing 
more  attractive  or  exalting  on  national  shrines  than  the  deification 
of  power,  the  apotheosis  of  might.  But  when  Rome  had  destroyed 
the  various  nationalities  of  the  world,  there  was  yet  a  susceptibility 
in  the  human  heart  which  she  could  not  annihilate — something 
through  which  men  might  hold  communion  with  each  other — a  bond 
beyond  the  mere  relation  of  a  citizen  to  his  state.  The  auspicious 
hour  had  come,  in  the  midst  of  utter  desolation,  when  humanity 
began  deeply  to  feel  this,  and  it  was  the  first  dawn  of  a  glorious 
day.  Christianity  arose  and  called  upon  men  as  moral  beings,  to 
the  humblest  of  whom  its  founder  lowered  himself.  The  apsis  of 
the  basilica  contained  an  Augusteum,  where  the  statues  of  the 
Caesars  were  divinely  worshiped  ;  but  these  were  to  be  exchanged 
for  holier  symbols  and  a  higher  truth. 

God  never  abandons  his  dependent  creatures,  but  aflfords  them 
light  according  to  their  destinies  here  below.  Even  amidst  the 
darkest  idolatry  true  adoration  was  presented  by  Job  in  Arabia, 
Melchisedec  in  Syria,  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba  in  ^Ethiopia  or  India. 
Orpheus,  the  Thracian,  older  than  Homer,  living  more  than  sixteen 
centuries  before  Christ,  taught  many  things  to  be  admired  respect- 
ing God,  the  word,  and  the  creation  of  the  world.  Justin  Mattyr,  in 
his  first  apology  to  the  Roman  senate,  says,  "  Socrates  was  accused 
for  the  same  crime  as  that  of  which  we  are  accused,  namely,  of 
asserting  that  there  is  but  one  God."  Irenaeus  says  that  Plato  had 
sounder  views  of  religion  than  the  heretics  of  his  own  day  whom 
he  was  refuting.  The  conformity  of  his  doctrine  to  some  features 
of  the  Hebrew  scriptures  is  well  known.  Augustin  says,  that  if 
Plato  could  return  to  the  world,  he  would  doubtless  become  a 
Christian,  as  most  of  the  Platonicians  of  his  time  did. 


210 


AUGUSTUS. 


But  something  more  was  needed  than  the  aspirations  of  patriots, 
or  the  sacred  suggestions  of  philosophers,  and  the  world's  greatest 
want  was  met  in  the  divine  lessons  imparted  through  the  elect 
people  of  God.  Out  of  the  Abrahamic  tribe  of  faith  Moses  formed 
the  Jewish  nation.  Natural  stubbornness  and  the  lingering  super- 
stitions contracted  from  the  sacerdotal  caste  of  Egypt,  necessitated 
the  ritual  and  ceremonial  regulations  by  which  they  were  first  en- 
compassed. Moreover,  inspired  prophets,  called  from  the  humblest 
ranks  of  the  people,  counteracted  the  hierarchical  and  regal  ten- 
dencies of  the  more  aristocratic  classes,  and  by  degrees  elevated  all 
to  the  conception  and  adoption  of  comparative  republicanism  in 
church  and  state.  Disciplined  by  successive  revelations,  and 
decimated  by  death,  they  gradually  became  competent  to  enjoy 
unmixed  truth  and  Uberty  governed  by  law.  The  rule  of  conscience 
which  the  father  of  the  faithful  had  made  the  distinctive  law  of  his 
particular  household,  Moses  extended  throughout  the  legislation  of 
the  first  religious  nation  ;  it  only  remained,  in  due  time,  for  the 
humanly  realized  God  to  divinize  man  by  extending  this  celestial 
influence  and  control  over  all  mankind.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
gross  fetichism  of  the  East  should  be  entirely  eradicated  from  the 
race  destined  to  plant  true  religion  on  earth ;  and  so  the  wandering 
tribes  sojourned  in  the  wilderness  until  the  generation,  contaminated 
by  actual  contact  and  intercourse  in  Egypt,  were  all  dead.  Then 
prophets  more  enlightened  and  progressive  arose,  who  occupied  an 
intermediate  position  between  the  material  dispensation  of  Moses 
and  the  pure  spirituality  of  Christ.  External  forms  are  more  and 
more  discarded  in  the  later  portions  of  their  writings ;  and  their 
views  of  the  old  dispensation  become  increasingly  independent  of 
those  who  lived  near  its  origin.  In  the  Messianic  system  toward 
whiclt  they  gladly  advance,  is  evidently  expected  a  clearer  light  and 
less  cumbrous  service.  The  Hebraic  dispensation  was  provisional, 
and  appointed  to  generate  what  was  necessary  for  all  men  ;  but  it 
was  neither  designed  nor  .adapted  to  continue  longer  than  to  do  a 
preparatory  work,  since  it  was  circumscribed  to  a  small  portion 
of  the  human  family,  and  was  unfitted  for  extension  through- 
out the  world.  It  ended  as  soon  as  the  ideas  coined  in  the  die 
prepared  by  Jehovah  were  thrown  into  the  hands  of  Japhet,  whose 
mission  it  was  to  transfer  them  into  all  historic  languages,  and 


RELIGION. 


211 


give  them  a  free  circulation  co-extensive  with  the  commerce  of 
the  globe. 

The  fountain  of  faith  was  enlarged  in  Shem  simultaneously  with 
the  immense  development  of  admiration  in  Japhet.  Both  were 
equally  aside  from  Egypt,  and  its  reminiscences  of  Ham.  The  He- 
brews were  an  alphabetic  people,  and  never  used  a  hieroglyphic, 
but  despised  symbolism  in  all  its  forms.  They  were  the  depository 
of  that  pure  and  sublime  monotheism,  which  has  been  the  special 
glory  of  the  Shemitic  races  from  the  earliest  time  to  the  present 
day.  The  Indo-Ger manic  races,  to  which  the  Persians  were  allied 
closely  in  antiquity,  and  of  which  the  Greeks  were  the  purest  expo- 
nent, borrowed  temple-worship  from  over  the  sea,  like  every  other 
element  of  artistic  decoration,  and  perfected  it.  So  far  as  the  Jews 
possessed  art,  they  appropriated  it  from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates, 
perhaps,  but  never  from  the  Nile.  In  their  best  days,  and  under 
the  auspices  of  two  mighty  kings,  father  and  son,  they  were  inca- 
pable of  erecting  a  suitable  religious  edifice  without  foreign  aid. 
Had  it  not  been  for  his  fortunate  aUiance  with  Hiram  of  Tyre,  it  is 
probable  that  Solomon  would  never  have  seen  executed  the  temple 
which  so  greatly  enhanced  his  fame.  That  was  of  Tyrian  art,  fash- 
ioned after  Phoenician  types,  and  foretokened  how,  still  further 
west,  the  splendor  of  Shem,  and  taste  of  Japhet,  would  yet  more 
closely  commingle,  and  be  mutually  benefitted  in  the  joint  works 
of  faith  and  love. 

While  colonization  bore  the  Pelasgic  into  Italy,  and  there  trans- 
muted the  ancient  Shemitic  tongue  by  a  mixture  of  the  Etruscan, 
and  other  dialects  of  that  central  peninsula,  into  the  Latin,  another 
matchless  source  of  improvement  was  laid  up  in  ancient  hterature. 
The  sepulchre  of  human  hope  seemed  to  grow  dark,  but  a  lamp 
burned  therein,  which  was  yet  to  kindle  a  bright  flame  on  purer 
altars.  Fugitives  from  the  smoldering  ruins  of  Grecian  glory,  trans- 
ported their  gods  through  the  flames,  to  establish  a  new  worship  in 
more  favored  climes.  In  the  cause  of  mankind,  apparent  defeat  has 
ever  been  positive  victory ;  and  all  its  triumphs  have  achieved  in- 
creased benefits  for  all.  When  the  hour  is  darkest,  and  the  air  most 
chill,  then  expect  the  first  dawn  on  the  edge  of  a  sky  that  shall  pour 
increased  light  upon  all  nations ;  the  first  lifting  of  a  trumpet  that 
with  louder  peals  shall  break  up  the  sleep  of  the  great,  tomb  of  destiny. 


212 


AUGUSTUS. 


The  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Greek  was  begun  about 
B.C.  285.  The  statement  received  in  the  time  of  Josephus  was, 
that  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  desiring  to  possess  a  copy  for  his  cele- 
brated library  at  Alexandria,  sent  Aristeas  and  Andreas,  two  persons 
of  rank,  on  a  formal  mission  to  Eleazer,  the  Jewish  High  Priest, 
for  the  purpose.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  a  rich  and  cultivated 
sovereign  should  have  wished  to  possess,  even  as  a  literary  curiosity, 
the  book  of  the  laws,  history,  and  poetry  of  a  nation,  lying  in  his 
vicinity.  But  great  numbers  of  Jews  were  within  his  own  borders, 
and  they  must  have  constantly  appealed  to  their  law  in  their  gov- 
ernmental transactions,  which  appeals  could  not  be  answered  but 
by  reference  to  an  authority  recognized  by  both  parties.  Hence, 
the  Pentateuch  alone  was  translated  in  the  first  instance ;  but  the 
other  books  followed,  at  long  intervals,  and  in  other  reigns.  The 
important  fact  is,  that  the  Septuagint  was  received  as  an  authority 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  to  the  original,  from  the  first,  and  could 
be  read  by  the  Jew  in  the  synagogue,  or  the  Christian  in  the  church. 
Then  note  how  striking  was  the  epoch  of  this  translation.  It  was 
exactly  Between  the  completion  of  the  Jewish  Canon  by  the  pro- 
phecies of  Malachi,  and  the  long  series  of  Jewish  desolations  which 
began  with  the  Epiphanes.  It  was  late  enough  to  contain  the  en- 
tire body  of  old  revelation  vouchsafed  to  Shem,  and  sufficiently  early 
to  prepare  the  way  for  that  more  glorious  unfolding  of  the  divine 
purpose  which  it  was  reserved  for  the  Japhetic  race  to  execute. 

Then  followed  the  other  appropriate  preparatives  for  the  coming 
of  our  Lord ;  "  the  rebuilding  of  that  temple  which  was  thus  to  be 
more  honored  than  by  the  Glory  from  heaven ;  the  visions  and 
predictions  of  those  who  looked  for  the  great  coming,  day  and 
night  watching  in  the  temple ;  the  solemn  and  startling  denuncia- 
tions of  the  Baptist ;  the  visible  presence  of  the  Eternal  in  the 
flesh ;  His  mission ;  His  power  over  nature,  the  human  heart,  and 
the  Evil  Spirit ;  His  death  for  human  sin ;  His  rising  again  for 
human  justification ;  His  visible  ascent  to  the  throne  of  Heaven ; 
the  overwhelmning  miracles  by  which  fortitude,  knowledge,  faith, 
and  the  power  of  communicating  them  all,  were  inspired  into  the 
peasants  of  Galilee ;  form  an  imspeakable  display  of  light  and  wis- 
dom, an  illustration  of  Providence,  which,  through  all  the  clouds 
of  time  and  things,  still  fixes  the  eye  on  that  spot  above,  where  the 


RELIGION. 


213 


Sun  of  the  Spirit  shall  break  forth  at  last,  and  the  full  aspect  of  the 
heavens  be  sho^vn  to  man.  Thus  it  was  that  the  old  religion  put 
on  a  newer  and  more  perfect  form.  The  seed  planted  in  the  day 
of  Abraham  was  at  first  shut  up,  but  in  the  day  of  Judah  began  to 
grow,  and  shot  majestically  above  the  earth  in  the  day  of  Christ. 
The  primal  faith,  which  long  lay  buried  in  weakness,  was  raised  in 
power,  and  the  mortal  body  of  the  patriarchal  dispensation  put  on 
immortal  glory. 

The  corresponding  preparation,  which  was  attained  through  sec- 
ular power,  is  equally  worthy  of  special  regard.  When  Christianity 
was  to  be  given  to  the  world,  the  Roman  empire  had  received  that 
form  of  government  which  most  fully  combined  enterprise  with 
solidity ;  the  daring  energy  of  a  Republic,  with  the  comprehensive 
ambition  of  a  monarchy.  Like  all  the  great  leaders  of  mankind, 
the  genius  of  the  Caesars  might  stand  for  the  representative  of  the 
empire.  The  unequaled  union  of  the  bold,  the  sagacious,  and  the 
indomitable,  rendered  that  wonderful  series  of  instruments  superla- 
tively adapted  to  cast  up  a  highway,  and  gather  out  the  stones 
from  the  path  of  human  progress.  When  the  shadow  of  the  Ro- 
man eagle  stretched  over  all  nations,  and  the  mandate  of  the  em- 
peror touched  the  extreme  points  of  civilization,  the  final  use  of 
martial  force  was  subordinate  to  that  divine  religion  which  was 
destined  to  spread  speedily  from  Caucasus  to  Mauritania,  and  from 
the  rising  to  the  setting  sun.  The  mighty  empire  was  not  to  perish 
as  it  fell,  but  to  cast  off  its  pagan  wretchedness,  and  become  in- 
vested with  the  unsullied  robe,  and  starry  diadem,  of  a  loftier  sov- 
ereignty. The  Babylonish,  Persian,  Grecian,  and  Roman  empires, 
which  successively  constituted  civilization,  formed  the  central  chan- 
nel of  life  to  the  earth ;  they  were  the  spine,  whence  issued  sensa- 
tion and  motion  to  the  general  frame,  the  meridian,  to  which  all 
the  lines  of  the  chart  of  human  progress  must  be  referred.  These 
four  had  exercised  an  unceasing  influence  on  Judah,  as  invaders,  or 
sovereigns,  up  to  the  time  when  retributive  justice  opened  the  way 
for  the  immediate  incarnation  of  infinite  Love.  The  capture  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus,  was  the  beginning  of  the  consummation.  A 
false  Messiah  was  proclaimed  to  a  people  already  morally  ruined, 
and  the  frenzied  insurrection  under  Barchochebas,  a.d.  132,  closed 
the  existence  of  Judah.    Hadrian  completed  the  terrible  work. 


214 


AUGUSTUS. 


He  built  a  theatre  with  the  stones  of  the  Temple,  dedicated  a  temple 
to  Jupiter  on  the  spot  where  the  altar  of  God  had  stood,  placed 
the  image  of  a  swine  on  the  city  gates,  and  thenceforth  excluded 
the  Jews  from  their  beloved  metropolis.  At  that  moment  the 
church  chose  their  chief  presbyter  from  the  Gentiles,  instead  of 
the  race  of  Abraham,  as  was  the  custom  before,  and  thus  the  bridge 
between  Judaism  and  Christianity  was  forever  broken  down. 

But  the  Roman  empire  was  now,  in  turn,  to  perish.  One  of  the 
high  ends  for  which  it  was  permitted,  had  been  fulfilled  in  the  ex- 
tirpation of  Judah,  and  its  own  final  use  was  the  diffusion  of  a 
diviner  system.  The  tokens  of  coming  doom  multiplied  from  the 
hour  the  arch  of  Titus  was  completed.  Leviathan  still  dashed  the 
.political  ocean  into  foam,  but  the  ebb  was  inevitably  come,  and  he 
must  soon  be  laid  dry  upon  the  shore.  Let  us  briefly  review  the  foots. 

Ti'adition  assigns  to  Numa,  a  Sabine,  the  establishment  of  the 
laws  and  regulations  of  the  Roman  pohty,  both  civil  and  religious; 
but  in  the  absence  of  authentic  records,  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  far 
the  statements  respecting  this  regal  law-giver  are  to  be  relied  upon. 
The  spirit  of  the  Roman  religion  was  originally  quite  difierent  from 
that  of  the  Grecian.  The  former  was  plastically  flexible,  the  latter 
sacerdotally  immutable.  After  the  bloody  proscriptions  and  civil 
wars  of  preceding  centuries,  Octavius,  under  the  name  of  Augustus, 
appeared  as  the  restorer  of  general  peace,  and  was  the  first  abso- 
lute monarch  of  the  Roman  world.  His  long  and  comparatively 
tranquil  reign  w^as  a  brilliant  period  of  national  history.  Under 
the  supremacy  of  the  Augustan  age,  innumerable  divinities,  from 
Syria,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Persia,  Africa,  Spain,  Gaul,  Germany,  and 
Britain,  received  Roman  forms  and  personifications  ;  but  in  all  in- 
stances, wherever  traces  of  grandeur  or  beauty  appeared,  they 
attested  that  which  had  been  pillaged  and  transferred  from  ancient 
Greece.  The  distinguishing  character  and  leading  principle  of  the 
Roman  state,  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  period  of  its  history,  was 
political  idolatry  in  its  most  frightful  shape,  the  greatest  aberration 
of  paganism.  The  spoils  of  all  nations  were  made  to  flow  into  the 
"  Eternal  City,"  and  the  known  world  wore  her  chains.  The  Orontes 
and  the  Ganges,  the  Nile  and  the  Thames,  were  tributary  to  the 
Tiber.  The  invincible  legions  held  every  province  in  awe,  gold  and 
silver  were  as  profuse  as  iron,  and  to  be  a  Roman  citizen  was  the 


RELIGION. 


216 


ambition  of  a  life.  The  Capitol,  from  its  rocky  height  looked  se-  ' 
renely  down  on  a  thousand  temples,  sacrificial  processions  went 
daily  forth,  and  numberless  victims  bled  at  the  altars  of  Neptune 
and  Mars.  The  Pontifex  ascended  with  supreme  dominion  to  the 
loftiest  shrine ;  while  beneath,  the  Pantheon,  and  the  temple  of 
Apollo  of  the  Palatine,  and  of  Diana  of  the  Janiculum,  and  the  glo- 
rious house  of  Victory,  were  redolent  with  Sabiean  incense.  All 
worldly  wisdom,  wealth,  and  art,  waited  on  the  mistress  of  the 
world.  Popularly  considered,  the  ancestral  deities  of  Kome  had 
invested  her  children  with  such  glory,  that  they  Hved  in  their  wor- 
ship, throve  by  their  favor,  and  as  long  as  they  served  them  they 
were  invincible.  The  pagan  religion  had  a  powerful  control  over 
unreflecting  devotees.  Its  temples,  priests,  mysteries,  sacrifices, 
and  magnificent  processions,  which  called  to  their  aid  the  varied 
attractions  of  sculpture,  painting,  and  music,  awakened  a  variety  of 
entrancing  emotions,  and  conspired  to  work  the  most  effective  delu- 
sion. Moreover,  the  more  enlightened  took  especial  pains  to  cher- 
ish the  prejudice  that,  to  the  deep  popular  respect  for  the  gods  of 
the  Republic,  the  unexampled  success  of  the  national  arms  was  to  be 
attributed.  The  piety  of  Romulus  and  of  Numa  was  believed  to 
have  laid  the  foundations  of  their  greatness.  To  use  their  own  lan- 
guage, "  It  was  by  exercising  religious  discipline  in  the  camp,  and 
by  fortifying  the  city  with  sacred  rites,  with  vestal  virgins,  and  the 
various  degrees  of  a  numerous  priesthood,  that  they  had  stretched 
their  dominion  beyond  the  paths  of  the  sun  and  the  limits  of  the 
ocean."  So  strongly  were  the  Romans  attached  to  their  religion, 
that  JEmilius  Paulus,  in  his  consulship,  ordered  the  temples  of  Isis 
and  Serapis,  gods  not  legally  recognized,  to  be  destroyed,  and,  ob- 
serving the  religious  fear  which  checked  the  people,  he  himself 
.  seized  an  axe,  and  struck  the  first  blow  against  the  portals  of  the 
sacred  edifice.  On  several  occasions  the  senate  exerted  its  power 
to  prevent  rehgious  innovations.  Augustus  directed  his  state-policy 
and  energy  to  the  restoring  of  the  ancient  laws,  and  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  primitive  belief.  The  effort  was,  however,  too  late ;  the 
impossibility  of  success  in  such  an  endeavor  lay  in  the  fact  that  old 
things  were  passing  away,  and  all  was  soon  to  become  new.  The 
emperor  strove  to  effect  the  closest  union  of  divine  worship  with 
the  state  ;  but  when  a  Nero  was  clothed  with  the  highest  priestly 


216 


AUGUSTUS. 


dignity,  when  a  Divus  Tiberius,  or  a  Divus  Caligula  received  divine 
honors  after  death,  surely  redemption,  rather  than  restoration,  was 
what  the  world  most  required.  Roman  society  was  rapidly  decay- 
ing through  excessive  vice  and  the  outrageous  inequality  of  con- 
ditions. The  palaces  of  the  rich  were  more  like  luxurious  cities, 
while  the  middle  class  had  totally  disappeared,  and  the  great  mass 
of  the  population  was  composed  of  slaves.  Immense  speculations 
were  made  upon  human  beings.  Atticus,  the  friend  of  Cicero,  had 
slaves  taught  and  trained,  to  sell  at  a  higher  price.  Many  citizens 
possessed  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand  vassals.  They  were  deci- 
mated by  famine,  sufiferings,  and  in  gladiatorial  combats ;  yet  they 
formed  about  three-fourths  of  the  whole  population.  Increasing 
fear  was  manifested  in  the  murder  of  Pontius ;  in  the  cold-blooded 
destruction  of  all  prisoners  of  distinction  at  the  close  of  every  tri- 
umph ;  in  the  ruin  of  Carthage ;  in  the  proscriptions  and  massacres 
of  Marius  and  Sylla,  and  of  the  successive  triumvirates ;  and  in 
those  of  Tiberius,  Nero,  and  their  wretched  successors.  The  great- 
ness of  Rome  was  exclusively  heathen,  until  men  mightier  than  the 
Caesars  trod  her  soil.  The  adherents  of  the  old  pagan  creed  might 
truly  say,  that  when  the  altars  of  Victory  ceased  to  smoke  on  the 
Capitol,  she  herself  ceased  to  wait  on  the  imperial  eagles ;  the  ex- 
istence of  Rome  seemed  bound  up  in  the  worship  of  the  gods  to 
whom  the  Tarquins  had  bowed,  and  under  whose  auspices  Camillus 
and  Scipio  had  marched  forth  to  conquest.  It  is  long  since  -^neas 
found  Evander  and  Pallas  celebrating  on  the  supreme  mount  those 
services  of  religion  for  which  Rome  has  always  been  noted,  and 
through  which  she  became  so  great.  But  the  preparatory  work 
which  her  sword  has  performed  over  dominions  so  immense,  has 
come  to  an  end ;  and  before  she  can  unfold  the  infinitely  sublimer 
influence  which  is  destined,  for  her  to  employ,  she  has  herself  to 
bend  before  the  Cross.  All  things  of  earth  seemed  about  to  perish. 
The  antique  civilization  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  creeds,  man- 
ners, science,  letters,  sank  to  the  lowest  degradation,  and  chaos  the 
most  dismal  was  imminent. 

It  was  then  that  the  last  of  the  prophets  found  an  echo  in  the 
first  of  the  Evangelists,  and  the  new  revelation  began  where  the  old 
ended.  The  words  which  Isaiah  originally  recorded,  "  Prepare  ye 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight,"  and  which  an- 


RELIGI  0  X. 


217 


nounced  the  mission  of  all  natural  forces  ruled  by  a  divine  purpose, 
were  repeated  by  Malachi  at  tlie  close  of  the  Hebrew  scriptures, 
-  and  constituted  the  first  command  of  the  precursor  of  the  true 
Messiah.  These  words  were  written  b.  c.  420,  at  the  time  when 
philosophy  was  enlightening  the  Greeks  with  moral  wisdom,  and 
Rome  was  advancing  toward  the  grandeur  of  her  republican  great- 
ness ;  and  were  resounding  in  the  accents  of  a  living  tongue  when 
Darius  and  Alexander  met  at  Arbela,  b.  c.  331,  and  the  East  fell 
into  the  embrace  of  the  West.  While  these  and  such  like  potsherds 
were  contending  with  each  other  from  first  to  last,  the  splendor  and 
omnipotence  of  the  Deity  were  revealed  to  the  prophet  Elias,  as 
he  journeyed  forty  days  toward  the  holy  mountain,  and  divinely 
illuminated  his  mortal  eyes.  There  came  a  great  and  mighty  wind, 
which  made  havoc  of  trees  and  rocks,  but  God  was  not  in  the 
wind.  There  came  afterward  a  violent  earthquake  with  fire,  but 
he  was  in  neither  the  earthquake  nor  in  the  fire.  Then  there  arose 
the  soft  breath  and  gentle  movement  of  tender  air ;  in  this  was  the 
immediate  presence  of  God,  and  in  awe  and  reverence  the  prophet 
veiled  his  face.  Such  was  the  origin  and  natm-e  of  Christianity, 
compared  with  the  crash  and  cruelty  of  war  it  came  to  supersede. 
In  the  lifetime  of  Augustus,  Christ  was  born  ;  under  Tiberius,  the 
foundation  of  the  Christian  religion  was  laid ;  and  during  the  reign 
of  Nero  the  authentic  record  of  that  infinite  mercy  brightened  the 
first  fair  page  of  Roman  history. 

Of  all  ancient  literatures,  the  Roman  was  most  insensible  to  past 
beauty,  and  future  progress.  The  only  voice  among  them,  which 
chimed  with  the  continuous  prophets  and  evangelists  of  advancing 
humanity  was  the  vague  aspiration  of  Virgil,  expressed  in  his 
Eclogue  to  Pollio.  Therein,  the  blessings  of  peace  are  celebrated, 
and  the  prospects  of  a  yet  better  age  are  foreshadowed.  Notwith- 
standing the  power  of  prejudice  and  imperialism,  the  better  instincts 
of  enhghtened  man  in  every  age  have  anticipated  a  still  fairer 
golden  age,  and  prepared  for  its  advent.  When  the  great  orient 
from  on  high  rose  over  the  wilderness  of  Roman  life,  the  Gentiles, 
with  prompt  gratitude  hailed  from  the  East  its  long-desired  beams. 
At  that  time  earth  afforded  nothing  better  for  the  soul  to  feed  upon 
than  the  mere  dross  of  religion,  which  remains  in  the  crucible  of  a 
godless  reason,  after  the  evaporation  of  all  spirit  and  life.  Some- 

10 


218 


AUGUSTUS. 


thing-  positive  and  inspiring  was  needed  in  palpable  manifestation, 
and  the  blessedness  of  Heaven  canae  into  the  great  middle  path  of 
humanity  to  roll  on  the  ages  in  brightening  splendors.  Says  Bunsen, 
"Judaism  died  of  having  given  birth  to  Him  who  proclaimed  the 
Spirit  of  the  Law.  Hellenism  met  Christianity  by  its  innate  con- 
sciousness of  the  incarnation,  and  then  died ;  surviving  only  by 
eternal  thought  and  imperishable  art.  Romanism  taught  young 
Christianity  to  regulate  the  spirit  in  its  application  to  the  concerns 
of  human  society ;  when,  after  it  became  powerful,  it  taught  a 
religious  corporation  to  resist  a  despotic  and  corrupt  court,  and  to 
civihze  barbarians." 

Jesus  came  to  do  his  work  of  salvation,  not  as  a  mighty  one, 
nor  as  a  High  Priest,  or  even  as  a  Jew  ;  he  does  it  simply  as  the 
"  Son  of  Man,"  an  inestimable  blessing  for  all  mankind.  The  mate- 
rial temple  was  therefore  doomed  to  be  destroyed,  never  to  be  re- 
built ;  for  thenceforth  the  temple  of  God  is  man.  This  union,  which 
the  great  Mediator  declared  to  be  the  essence  of  true  religion,  will 
be  carried  on  by  that  Spirit  of  God  which  was  in  Jesus,  and  which 
by  his  being  One  with  the  Father,  made  him  the  very  mirror  and 
eternal  thought  of  divine  love.  As  Jesus,  in  his  progressive  life 
and  work  glorified  the  Father,  so  believing  humanity,  in  the  pro- 
gressiveness  of  the  truth  on  earth  will  glorify  God  in  heaven.  As 
it  was  up  to  the  point  where  universal  history  culminated  in  the 
advent  of  Christ,  so  doubtless  will  it  continue  to  be.  Nations  may 
perish  by  the  judgment  of  God,  and  new  nations  take  their  place ; 
but  the  truth  and  righteousness  of  God  will  become  increasingly 
manifest,  until  all  divine  purposes  are  reahzed,  and  the  whole 
world  is  blessed. 

The  Romans  were  distinguished  by  their  keen  enjoyment  of  car- 
nal pleasures,  and  their  excess  in  every  form  of  physical  and  mental 
indulgence.  Never  were  a  people  mightier  in  strength  or  more 
lawless  in  action.  From  the  time  when  Brutus  first  stained  his 
name  with  the  blood  of  assassination,  to  the  darker  period  when 
Nero  rioted  in  the  most  brutal  vices,  never  were  a  people  more 
colossal  in  moral  guilt  as  well  as  in  martial  dominion.  The  pro- 
fusion and  luxury  of  a  Roman  life  were  commensurate  with  their 
capacity  for  gross  excitement  and  the  means  of  gratifying  it,  both 
of  which  were  boundless.    All  that  earth  could  furnish  they  com- 


RELIGION. 


219 


manded,  but  even  this  was  insufficient  to  feed  the  flames  of  their  lust, 
and,  through  grovelHng  debasement,  they  sank  to  the  brink  of 
extinction.  The  fitting  symbol  of  their  volcanic  character  and 
condition  was  Vesuvius  when,  b.  c.  73,  Spartacus,  a  fugitive  slave, 
at  the  head  of  a  hoard  of  gladiators  and  fellow-vassals  in  revolt, 
encamped  on  the  summit,  where  they  were  blockaded  in  the  midst 
of  impending  flames.  The  fearful  unsatisfied  desire  to  soar  into 
infinity  common  to  every  human  breast,  in  them  took  no  nobler 
form  than  that  powerful  instinct  of  patriotism  which  burned  in  a 
few  heroes  and  patriots.  Regulus,  who,  with  eyes  cast  down,  tore 
himself  from  his  kindred,  quitted  Rome,  and  hurried  to  the  country 
of  his  enemies; — Decius,  who,  devoting  himself  to  the  infernal 
gods,  invoked  their  vengeance  upon  his  head,  and  rushed  into  the 
arms  of  death,  seemed  rather  demigods  than  men.  But,  com- 
pared with  the  glowing  cheerfulness  of  Leonidas,  they  were  barba- 
rians, since  the  law  they  fulfilled  was  without  love.  Even  those 
who  died  at  ThermopylaB  can  scarcely  be  regarded  to  have  been 
actuated  by  true  patriotism ;  but  in  fulfilling  a  national  vow  as  they 
fell,  there  was  something  sublimer  manifested  than  Rome  ever 
knew,  when  the  Spartan  leader  dictated  that  lofty  inscription 
on  the  mountain-monument,  "  Stranger,  tell  at  Lacedsemon,  that 
we  died  here  in  obedience  to  her  sacred  laws." 

Having  attained  an  almost  boundless  power  over  the  earth,  the 
Romans  neglected  the  traditional  deities  of  their  forefathers,  and 
set  themselves  up  as  gods.  The  Egyptians  deified  brutes ;  the 
Greeks,  ideas ;  and  the  Romans,  men.  The  religion  of  the  latter, 
or  bond  which  kept  the  tumultuous  aggregation  of  conquered 
nations  moving  sympathetically  round  one  centre,  was  glory  and 
luxury ;  hence,  the  monuments  which  the  Romans  have,  handed 
down  to  us  as  the  true  chronicles  of  their  times,  are  least  of  all 
religious,  such  as  the  Coliseum,  the  Baths,  Theatres,  and  Triumphal 
Arches.  At  the  darkest  and  most  oppressive  hour  appeared  Jesus, 
and  a  religion  was  preached  which  gave  to  monotheism,  until  then 
a  national  worship  of  the  Hebrews,  a  cosmopolitic  character.  All 
men  were  invited  to  become  Christians  by  the  apostles  of  that 
great  founder  of  this  faith,  who  had  abstained  not  only  from  touch- 
ing upon  politics  in  general,  but  from  any  question  which  does  not 
directly  belong  to  religion  and  morality,  or  is  not  nearly  allied  with 


220 


AUGUSTUS. 


either.  Nothing  was  permitted  to  be  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his 
religion  being  received  at  once  in  all  climes  and  by  all  classes  of 
mankind.  The  spiritual  value  of  the  individual  was  immeasurably 
raised,  and  Jehovah  was  proclaimed  to  be  the  God  of  all  men,  high 
or  low,  distant  or  near,  and  before  whom  all  are  equal.  A  territory 
was  made  known  beyond  the  state ;  and  every  man,  slave  or  citizen, 
was  shown  to  be  a  moral  agent,  bound  under  the  highest  law  to 
fulfill  his  duties  and  receive  his  reward  according  to  his  deeds.  Re- 
ligion was  no  longer  the  apotheosis  of  might,  but  the  discharge  of 
duty  and  the  worship  of  love. 

By  its  own  unaided  wisdom,  the  ancient  world  could  never  com- 
prehend the  mystery  of  creation.  The  Mosaic  writings  were  early 
rendered  into  Greek,  and  many  critics,  probably,  before  Longinus, 
felt  and  admired  their  sublimity ;  but  they  knew  not  what  to  make 
of  these  remarkable  novelties,  and  the  best  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  never  wrote  as  if  they  were  at  home  in  them.  Nor  could 
it  well  be  otherwise,  since  their  notions  respecting  the  origin  of 
man,  as  well  as  concerning  the  purpose  of  all  knowledge,  were  so 
absurd.  The  grosser  element  of  the  human  being,  earth,  occupied 
the  chief  consideration,  while  the  spark  of  divinity  in  man  was 
viewed  as  a  theft  from  heaven,  and  the  reward  of  successful 
knavery.  Still  less  could  they  comprehend  the  mystery  of  re- 
demption. Their  consciousness  with  respect  to  God  was  thoroughly 
disorganized,  and  through  thousands  of  years  they  oscillated  be- 
tween the  lower  and  higher  life  in  perpetual  restlessness.  They 
dwelt  perpetually  between  atonement  and  thanksgiving,  without 
one  true  and  distinct  comprehension  of  either.  The  smoke  of 
sacrifice  ascended  from  innumerable  oblations  perpetually  renewed, 
but  the  effective  sacrifice  was  never  found,  and  the  benighted  wor- 
shiper still  felt  himself  alienated  from  God.  The  heart  of  human- 
ity bore  an  enigma  which  time  and  sense  could  never  solve. 
Bunsen  well  states  the  facts  as  follows :  "  Christ  put  an  end  to  this 
unhappy  discord  by  the  free  and  loving  surrender  of  his  own  will 
to  that  of  the  Father ;  an  act  of  life  and  death,  in  which  Christ 
and  the  whole  Christian  Church  throughout  the  world  with  Him, 
recognize  the  self-sacrifice  of  the  Deity  himself,  and  which  philoso- 
phy (in  other  words,  reason  awakened  to  consciousness,)  demands 
as  an  eternal  act  of  God.    Through  this  act  of  eternal  love,  the  act 


RELIGION. 


221 


of  the  Incarnate  God,  as  many  as  believed  in  it,  became  recipients 
of  the  new  spirit,  of  a  new,  divine,  inward  power.  The  inward  con- 
sciousness of  the  eternal  redeeming  love  of  God  (that  is  faith)  im- 
parted the  capacity  of  feeling  at  one  with  God  in  spite  of  sin ;  for 
it  gave  men  the  power  of  severing  sin,  as  an  evil  hostile  element, 
from  their  real  self,  and  therefore  of  freeing  their  life  from  that  self- 
ishness, which  is  the  root  of  all  evil  in  it.  A  free  devotion  to  God 
and  our  brethren  in  thankful  love  now  became  possible — a  devotion 
for  God's  sake,  arising  from  a  feeling  of  gratitude  toward  Him  who 
first  loved  us.  In  the  language  of  historical  revelation  this  idea  is 
thus  expressed.  The  great  atonement  or  sin-offering  of  mankind 
was  consummated  by  Christ,  by  means  of  his  personal  sacrifice : 
the  great  thank-offering  of  mankind  became  possible  through 
Christ,  by  means  of  the  Spirit." 

Thus,  cotemporaneously  with  Augustus  transpired  that  central 
event  of  all  history.  The  free  personal  sacrifice  of  Christ  offered 
once  for  all,  gloriously  realizing  all  that  of  which  the  whole  Leviti- 
cal  priesthood  and  sacrifice  was  nothing  but  a  shadow  and  a  type. 
Man  had  already  tenanted  the  earth  thousands  of  years,  when  that 
child  was  born  whose  mission  was  to  produce  effects  so  incalculably 
great  that  even  yet  probably  men  are  but  seeing  the  beginning  of 
them.  As  soon  as  the  way  was  suflSciently  prepared,  Christ  came 
to  abolish  the  law  by  fulfilling  it.  He  rendered  manifest  those 
sacred  forms  which  a  bigoted  understanding  had  as  yet  failed  to 
understand.  From  the  bosom  of  a  contracted  people,  the  Son  of 
Man  arose  to  proclaim  the  Universal  Father — that  God  who,  as  the 
most  intelligent  of  Christians  declared  to  the  Athenians,  "hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of 
the  earth."  For  this  sublime  doctrine  the  moment  had  at  length 
arrived ;  a  race  of  men  existed  who  were  ready  to  receive  its  an- 
nouncement and  appreciate  its  worth.  Says  Eusebius,  "Like  a 
sunbeam  it  streamed  over  the  face  of  the  earth."  Mankind  had 
now  received  something  better  than  Greek  or  Roman  cultivation, 
which  is  nothing  but  the  varnish  of  civilization.  The  doctrines  of 
Christ  subdue  and  save  humanity  by  making  authority  a  thing  in- 
violable, by  making  obedience  a  thing  holy,  and  by  making  self- 
renouncement  and  charity  things  divine.  Under  the  force  of  law, 
a  Curtius  or  a  Codrus  could  die  for  the  salvation  of  his  country,  and 


222 


AUGUSTUS. 


a  Regulus  for  the  superstition  of  his  oath ;  but  the  Christian  mar- 
tyrs made  the  like  sacrifice  for  conscience,  and  the  baptism  of  their 
blood,  falling  under  the  Cross,  was  the  primary  seed  of  earth's  rich- 
est harvest.  In  the  hands  of  Providence  new  wine  is  never  put 
into  old  bottles.  The  leaven  of  Christianity  for  a  season  seemed 
lost  in  the  lump  of  human  sin ;  nevertheless,  it  was  doing  its  great 
work  with  resistless  power.  Its  first  progress  was  marked  by  blood 
and  flame,  only  to  be  more  widely  seen  and  longer  remembered. 
The  ashes  of  meek  heroes  sowed  the  earth  with  Cadmean  germs, 
powerful  in  growth  and  prolific  of  good.  All  adverse  winds  were 
let  loose,  but  they  only  blew  the  fires  of  divine  illumination  into  a 
loftier  and  wider  splendor. 

During  the  first  three  hundred  years  after  the  promulgation  of 
Christianity,  it  was  assailed  by  the  learned,  ridiculed  by  the  sar- 
castic, opposed  by  the  mighty,  and  on  all  sides  persecuted  and 
oppressed.  Yet  the  church  grew  and  prospered.  The  disciples  of 
Christ  had  other  lessons  to  learn  and  other  duties  to  perform  than 
the  schools  of  human  wisdom  could  inculcate,  but  this  did  not  pre- 
vent the  existence  of  many  learned  Christians.  The  great  Origen 
was  surpassed  by  none  of  his  cotemporaries  among  the  Greeks ; 
and  Minucius  Felix,  Tertullian,  and  Lactantius  stood  first  in  Latin 
ranks.  It  was  a  time  when  injured  rights  and  insulted  virtue  de- 
manded the  most  exalted  oratory,  and  the  early  fathers  were  not 
wanting  in  its  divinest  use.  Chrysostom,  for  example,  warmed  his 
century  like  a  sun.  In  good  time  certain  men  of  the  most  despised 
nation  came  up  to  the  great  city  of  power  and  pride.  They  were 
regarded  as  the  scum  and  oflscouring  of  the  lowest  ranks,  and  their 
religious  rites  were  declared  to  be  impious.  Their  God  had  been 
crucified  under  the  Procurator  of  Judea,  and  his  body  had  been 
stolen  from  a  hidden  grave.  But  the  new  doctrines  continued  to 
spread,  although  the  magistrates  resisted  them,  and  more  than 
ten  times  the  Augusti  raised  their  swords  against  the  "  execrable 
superstition."  The  altars  of  the  great  gods  were  deserted,  their 
temples  decayed,  their  images  were  dethroned,  and  in  their  stead, 
in  their  very  place  often,  rose  the  edifices  of  those  who  adored  the 
Nazarene,  and  scorned  the  ancient  deities  of  the  Quirites.  Thence- 
forth Rome  ceased  to  be  invincible.  The  East  was  encroached 
upon,  and  the  West  fell  under  the  flood  of  hostile  barbarians.  The 


RELIGION. 


223 


sceptre  was  removed  to  another  city,  and  the  huge  universal  empire 
was  dissolved,  Rome  was  humbled  to  the  lowest  degree,  and 
bowed  her  neck  to  her  captors. 

The  adaptation  of  the  primitive  apostles  to  their  respective  mis- 
sions is  worthy  of  especial  attention,  Peter  was  the  rock  of  the 
church,  representing  its  firmness  to  endure  rather  than  its  aggres- 
sive force.  He  was  the  teacher  of  order,  as  John  was  the  disciple 
of  love,  and  Paul  the  ^eat  champion  of  spiritual  freedom  and  doc- 
trinal faith.  At  Joppa  was  vouchsafed  to  Peter  the  vision  that 
rebuked  his  Jewish  prejudice,  and  which  at  Caesarea  prompted  this 
key-holder  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  before  Cornelius  the  Italian, 
lo  unfold  doors  to  an  empire  which  soon  threw  Rome  into  the 
shade,  and  hung  the  fragrant  amaranths  of  peace  above  the  bloody 
trophies  of  war.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  carried  to  the  imperial 
eity  to  suffer  martyrdom ;  but  that  this  apostle  was  teaching  there 
when  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  was  written  it  is  impossible  to 
believe.  To  prove  that  fact,  or  even  to  admit  that  he  was  a  teacher 
there  after  his  brother  apostle's  writings  were  received,  is  to  an- 
nihilate the  assumption  that  Peter  was  the  founder  of  the  Roman 
<3hurch.  He  doubtless  planted  Christianity  in  oriental  Babylon, 
but  a  mightier  head  and  heart  were  employed  to  distribute  the 
same  inestimable  treasure  in  the  West.  The  spheres  of  the  two 
great  leaders  were  unHke,  but  in  life  and  death  their  aims  and  re- 
wards were  one. 

The  zealous  Pharisee  who  so  long  and  learnedly  sat  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel,  and  w'hose  soul,  so  like  a  sea  of  glass  mingled  with 
fire,  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  heavenly  power  on  the  plains  of 
Damascus,  was  the  predestined  hero  of  liberty  and  truth  to  the 
progressive  races,  Asiatic  by  birth,  but  European  in  mental  struc- 
ture, his  faculties  were  the  best  on  earth  for  the  work  to  which 
they  were  made  subservient,  when  at  Philippi  his  hand  kindled  the 
torch  of  salvation  on  the  eastern  edge  of  Europe,  which  thenceforth 
was  to  burn  through  all  tempests,  and  with  constantly  increasing 
brightness,  westward  round  the  globe.  Like  the  great  lawgiver  of 
the  old  dispensation,  this  pioneer  of  the  new  was  master  of  all  the 
learning  of  the  Egyptians,  and  when  the  completed  accomplish- 
ments of  Greece  were  superadded  under  the  transforming  power  of 
divine  grace,  the  mighty  aggregate  was  thrown  upon  the  great 


224 


AUGUSTUS. 


deep,  and  commerce  became  a  grand  instrument  of  civilization. 
With  the  pagan  signal  of  Castor  and  Pollux  floating  at  mast-head, 
and  the  wealth  of  Africa  stowed  in  the  hold,  this  son  of  Asia  bore 
a  message  to  central  Europe  which  would  soon  make  every  kernel 
of  that  seed-wheat  to  spring  up  over  a  renovated  hemisphere,  and 
to  shake  like  Lebanon.  His  bonds  never  restrained  his  heroic  zeal, 
but  continued  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  converted  many  of  every 
rank,  even  some  who  were  "  saints  of  Caesar's  household."  When 
set  at  liberty,  he  sailed  to  Syria,  rapidly  passed  through  Asia 
Minor,  and  returned  through  Macedonia  and  Corinth  to  Rome. 
Britain  may  have  witnessed  his  devotion,  and  Spain  caught  the 
inspiration  of  his  heavenly  zeal.  But  his  chief  anxiety  was  centred 
in  that  great  fountain  of  influence,  Rome,  where  he  had  founded  a 
church  containing  a  "  vast  multitude,"  according  to  the  expression 
of  Tacitus,  A.  D.  65,  and  where,  according  to  his  own  presentiment, 
he  was  martyi'ed  the  same  year. 

The  confessors  who  followed  the  apostles,  like  them  won  the 
approving  testimony  of  conscience,  and  the  profound  esteem  of  all 
good  men.  Their  blood  was  considered  the  seed  of  the  church, 
which  said  concerning  them :  "  To  each  victor  is  promised  now  the 
tree  of  hfe  and  exemption  from  the  second  death,  now  the  hidden 
manna  with  the  white  stone,  and  an  unknown  name  :  now  to  be 
clothed  in  white,  not  to  be  blotted  out  of  the  book  of  hfe,  and  to  be 
made  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  God,  inscribed  with  the  name  of  his 
God  and  Lord  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  :  and  now  to  sit  down 
with  the  Lord  on  his  throne,  once  refused  to  the  sons  of  Zebedee." 
About  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  arose  a  discussion  which 
throws  light  upon  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  martyr-victims  of 
those  days.  Celsus,  on  the  part  of  the  heathen,  reproached  his 
opponents  with  the  fortitude  of  Anaxarchus,  who,  when  pounded  in 
a  rnortar,  exclaimed,  "  Pound  the  shell  of  Anaxarchus,  himself  you 
touch  not."  "  What,"  he  asks,  "  did  your  Deity  say  in  his  suffer- 
ings comparable  to  this  ?"  Origen  returned  the  appropriate  answer, 
that  a  pious  submission  to  God's  will,  or  even  a  prayer,  such  as  "  if 
it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me,"  is  more  truly  magnani- 
mous than  the  affectation  of  insensibility,  so  lauded  by  stoical 
paganism.  The  martyr's  surrender  of  his  body  to  the  executioner 
was  esteemed  an  act  of  faith,  a  baptism  unto  Christ,  and  came  to  bo 


RELIGION.  225 

regarded  as  a  sacrament  of  certain  efficacy,  seeing  that  no  subse- 
quent Ml  could  annul  its  power.  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death," 
was  evermore  whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  confessor,  "  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  crown  of  life."  Thus  pacific  and  defenceless,  the  primitive 
church  conquered  the  proud  array  of  pagan  and  imperial  power ; 
and  the  doubting  world,  forced  to  admit  a  divine  interposition  in 
behalf  of  this  new  religion,  beheld  a  testimony  from  heaven  to  its 
truth.  Perhaps  the  strongest  confidence  in  the  resurrection,  and 
the  most  energetic  subscription  to  the  declaration,  "  If  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God," 
was  expressed  by  Ignatius,  who,  knowing  the  danger  often  incurred 
in  obtaining  the  remains  of  the  martyrs,  expressed  a  wish  to  be  so 
entirely  devoured  by  beasts,  that  no  fragment  of  his  body  should 
be  found. 

The  emperor  JuKau  was  ambitious  of  establishing  the  old  poly- 
theism on  the  ruins  of  Christianity;  and,. without  doubt,  Diocletian 
was  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  extirpate  the  new  creed.  But  the 
cause  of  truth  was  strong,  and  its  strength  received  imperial  pro- 
tection in  the  triumph  of  Constantine.  Under  his  auspices,  a  new 
metropolis  arose  on  the  site  of  antique  Byzantium,  and  soon  left 
eclipsed  the  ancient  capital  of  the  world.  Thus  the  old  pagan  tra- 
ditions were  annihilated,  and  its  prestige,  so  vivid  and  powerful  in 
the  imagination  of  all  nations,  was  no  more.  The  empire  under- 
went a  new  division,  and  Constantine  commenced  a  modification 
of  the  superseded  institutions,  which,  under  the  law  of  continuous 
change,  have  lasted  until  our  time.  Fatal  heresies  arose  during  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  which  caused  much  Christian  activity  to 
be  wasted  on  purely  theological  subjects ;  sti]l  the  church  exercised 
the  most  pre-eminent  influence,  presenting  the  spectacle  of  a  bound- 
less and  universal  activity  in  intellectual  labors,  and  in  the  pro- 
gressive development,  and  advancement  of  civilization.  Many, 
doubtless,  Hke  Celsus,  were  bold  to  say,  "  He  must  be  void  of  under- 
standing who  can  believe  that  Greeks  and  barbarians,  in  Asia,  Eu- 
rope, and  Lybia,  all  nations  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  can  unite  in 
the  reception  of  one  and  the  same  religious  doctrine."  But  such 
happily  was  proved  to  be  the  fact.  Such  was  the  design  of  Jeho- 
vah, in  that  faith  given  to  change  all  existing  polities,  Jewish  as 
well  as  Gentile,  into  nations  and  states,  governed  by  a  law  founded 

10* 


226 


AUGUSTUS. 


upon  justice  and  charity ;  and  taking  its  highest  inspirations  from 
the  love  of  God,  as  the  common  Father  of  mankind,  declared,  in  the 
words  of  its  great  Founder,  that  "  the  field  is  the  world." 

The  Roman  bore  little  noblenesss  of  soul  in  life,  and  found  cor- 
responding gloom  at  its  end.  Brutus,  whose  patriotism  was  dark- 
ened by  despair,  and  who  died  a  suicide,  exclaimed,  "  0,  virtue ! 
thou  art  but  a  name."  In  reviewing  the  moral  condition  of  the 
ancients,  we  find  something  to  admire,  but  much  to  condemn.  All 
things  that  illustrate  their  religious  views  and  customs,  go  not  only 
to  exemplify  the  apostolic  declaration,  "  the  world  by  wisdom  knew 
not  God,"  but  equally  attest  the  same  writer's  description  of  the 
vices  common  to  the  heathen  world.  Frivolity  and  mirth  generally 
prevailed,  but  true  happiness  was  unknown.  A  tone  of  sadness 
dwelt  deepest  in  the  popular  heart,  as  appears  not. only  in  the 
choral  odes  of  tragedy,  but  even  in  their  comic  writings ;  a  sadness 
inseparable  from  the  condition  of  gifted  minds,  conscious  of  present 
evils,  ignorant  of  future  bliss,  and  having  no  other  resource  than 
that  insane  philosophy,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we 
die."  Gleams  of  divine  Providence  lay  amid  the  gloomy  abodes 
of  polytheism  ;  the  great  truth  of  future  retribution  was  suggested 
in  the  poetic  follies  of  Tartarus  and  Elysium.  A  few  torn  wreaths 
from  the  wreck  of  Paradise  seem  to  have  floated  to  the  Italian 
shores,  elegant  to  suggest,  but  impotent  to  save. 

Many  of  the  classic  legends  indicate  a  remote  and  universal  con- 
sciousness of  the  natural  and  perpetual  course  of  all  civilizing 
powers.  When  Ulysses  set  sail  from  the  isle  of  Circe,  with  tears 
he  launched  his  dark  vessel  upon  the  sea,  and,  after  sailing  all  day 
with  a  favorable  wind,  he  arrived  at  sunset  at  the  boundaries  of  the 
"  deep  flowing  Oceanus,"  and  the  city  of  the  Cimmerians,  whose 
darkness  is  never  dispelled.  He  there  evokes  the  dead ;  then  sails 
from  outer  ocean  back  into  the  sea,  and  when  he  returns  to  the 
Circean  isle,  whose  site  had  been  so  clearly  fixed  in  the  West,  he 
finds  the  gates  of  morning  and  of  Aurora.  In  Lsestrygonia,  beyond 
the  western  horizon,  were  placed  the  herds  of  the  sun,  and  the  gar- 
dens of  the  Hesperides  adjoined  Eurythia,  ruddy  with  the  setting 
ray.  There  lived  the  aged  Cronus,  the  three-bodied  giant  of  the 
West,  guarding  his  oxen,  or  the  years  sunk  beneath  the  wave. 
But  Hercules,  in  the  character  of  Greek  devotion,  warring  against 


RELIGION. 


227 


PhceDician  superstition,  slays  tlie  dog  Orthos,  and  the  gloomy- 
herdsman  Eurythion,  and  brings  back  the  lost  kine  to  Argos. 
Under  the  guidance  of  Minerva,  or  divine  wisdom  presiding  over 
nature,  he  is  enabled  to  wield  his  arms  of  light  against  the  prince 
of  darkness ;  but  these  labors  have  ever  to  be  repeated,  that  the 
apples  and  the  dog  may  be  carefully  restored  by  Minerva  to  their 
original  and  rightful  places.  These  mythological  fables  are  inter- 
esting, so  far  as  they  indicate  the  glimmerings  of  great  events,  but 
they  also  remind  us  of  dark  and  desperate  national  characteristics. 
The  Romans,  especially,  hke  the  favorite  deity,  Bacchus,  were  ter- 
rible in  war,  but  voluptuous  and  cruel  in  peace.  Their  demi-god, 
Hercules,  who  turned  rivers  from  their  courses,  withdrew  the  dead 
from  the  world  of  shades,  and  struck  terror  into  the  powers  of  Or- 
cus,  was  yet  the  slave  of  his  appetites,  and  the  dupe  of  his  mistress. 
Mental  imbecility  was  in  him,  as  in  his  worshipers,  the  concomitant 
of  extreme  physical  force.  It  was  from  no  love  of  humanity  that 
Caesar  led  his  warriors  into  Britain  ;  and  yet  the  circumstance  of 
that  conquest  at  exactly  that  time,  affected  the  whole  civilization 
of  what  is  now  earth's  leading  race.  It  is  thus  that  every  success- 
ive improvement  rises,  phoenix-like,  from  the  ashes  of  the  past. 

In  all  ages,  the  most  thoughtful  have  regarded  religion  as  the 
unique  foundation  of  duties,  as,  in  turn,  duties  are  the  unique  bond 
of  society.  Pubhc  conscience  has  never  been  obliterated,  however 
much  it  has  often  been  obscured.  The  legislators  of  antiquity  were  not 
in  a  condition  well  to  understand  the  nature  and  relations  of  high- 
est divinity,  but  such  revelations  as  were  in  their  possession  they 
employed  to  consolidate  the  social  edifice,  by  placing  religion  in 
the  family,  and  in  the  state,  as  a  part  of  the  domestic  constitution 
and  general  government.  In  a  manner,  they  caused  the  laws  of 
heaven  to  descend  and  become  attached  to  all  the  events  of  human 
life,  and  every  variety  of  civil  compacts.  They  even  submitted  in- 
animate objects,  as  woods,  waters,  and  the  boundary-stones  of  their 
patrimonies,  to  celestial  supervision ;  and,  it  would  seem,  strove  to 
multiply  their  gods  to  an  infinite  extent,  prompted  by  that  in- 
stinctive consciousness  which  every  where  hnks  the  finite  creature 
to  his  eternal  Creator.  "  Let  one  attempt  to  build  a  city  in  the 
air,"  said  Plutarch,  "  rather  than  expect  to  found  and  long  preserve 
a  state  from  which  the  gods  are  driven,"    Instructed  by  all  prece- 


228 


AUGUSTUS. 


ding  experience,  and  universal  tradition,  ancient  wisdom  compre- 
hended thorouglily  that  there  was  no  national  perpetuity  save  as 
religion  contributed  that  divine  force,  foreign  to  the  works  of  men, 
and  indispensable  to  the  creation  of  durable  institutions.  Aristotle 
recognized  in  this  the  common  law,  and  Cicero  declared  it  to  be 
the  source  of  all  obligations,  the  base,  support,  and  main  regulator, 
of  states  constituted  according  to  nature,  and  under  the  direction 
of  supreme  intelligence.  Plato  taught  that  in  every  Republic,  the 
first  endeavor  should  be  to  establish  true  religion,  and  to  place  the 
welfare  of  all  youth  under  executive  protection.  When  this  was 
least  regarded  at  Kome,  as  under  the  first  Csesars,  all  the  bonds  of 
society  were  at  once  loosened,  and  the  empire  subsequently  suffered 
complete  dissolution  under  the  blows  of  those  barbaric  nations  who 
were  sent  of  God  to  overthrow  an  atheistic  people,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  a  diviner  faith.  It  is  a  sad  prudence  which,  to  obtain  a 
few  minutes  of  false  peace,  would  sacrifice  the  future  of  faith  and 
the  life  of  society. 

Jesus  Christ  changed  neither  religion,  nor  laws,  nor  duties ;  but 
by  developing  and  consummating  the  primitive  law  in  his  own  per- 
son, and  through  his  disciples,  he  elevated  a  religious  society  into 
a  body  poHtic,  the  first  perfect  commonwealth,  wherein  he  designed 
that  all  families  should  ultimately  become  one  family,  governed  by 
his  own  legislation  alone,  himself  their  only  chief. 


LEO  X.: 

OR, 

THE  AGE  OP  SCIENTIFIC  INVENTION. 


PEOIOGUE  OF  MOTTOES. 


"  The  entire  succession  of  men,  through  the  whole  course  of  ages,  must 
be  regarded  as  one  man,  always  living  and  incessantly  learning." — Blaise 
Pascal. 

"  It  is  hard  to  find  a  whole  ago  to  imitate,  or  what  century  to  propose  for 
our  example.  Some  have  been  far  more  approvable  than  others :  but  virtue 
and  vice,  panegyrics  and  satires,  scatteringly  to  be  found  in  all  history,  sets 
down  not  only  things  laudable  but  abominable ;  things  which  should  never 
have  been,  or  never  have  been  known.  So  that  noble  patterns  must  be 
fetched  here  and  there  from  single  persons  rather  than  whole  nations,  and 
from  whole  nations  rather  than  any  one." — Sir  Thomas  Brown. 

"  Always  with  a  change  of  era,  there  had  to  be  a  change  of  practice  and 
outward  relations  brought  about,  if  not  peaceably,  then  by  violence,  for 
brought  about  it  had  to  be ;  there  could  be  no  rest  come  till  then.  How 
many  eras  and  epoclis  not  noted  at  the  moment,  which,  indeed,  is  the 
blessedest  condition  of  epochs,  that  they  come  quietly,  making  no  proclama- 
tion of  themselves,  and  are  only  visible  long  after.  A  Cromwell  Rebellion, 
a  French  Revolution,  striking  on  the  horologe  of  time,  to  tell  all  mortals 
what  a  clock  it  has  become,  are  too  expensive,  if  one  could  help  it." — ^Thomas 
Carlyle. 


"Stand  up :  I  myself  also  am  a  man." — ^Acis  x.  26. 


PART  THIRD. 

LEO  X.— -AGE  OF  SCIENTIFIC  INVENTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LITERATURE. 

The  fall  of  the  western  empire  was  a  strange  phenomenon.  The 
Roman  people  did  not  only  abandon  the  government  in  its  strug- 
gles against  the  barbarous  invaders,  but  when  left  to  themselves,  did 
not  attempt  any  resistance  on  their  own  behalf.  During  the  whole 
protracted  conflict,  the  nation  endured  all  the  scourges  of  war,  de- 
vastation, and  famine,  and  suffered  an  entire  change  in  its  character 
and  condition,  without  acting,  remonstrating,  or  even  appearing. 
Their  passive  submission  to  inevitable  destiny  at  the  great  crisis  of 
changeful  progress  was  most  complete. 

We  do  wrong  to  regard  the  middle  age  as  a  blank  in  human  his- 
tory, a  useless  void  between  the  refinement  of  antiquity  and  the 
freedom  of  modem  times.  No  vital  element  of  civilization  actually 
died,  though  all  may  have  fallen  into  deep  sleep,  from  which  they 
awoke  in  a  wonderful  and  sublime  manner  after  a  thousand  years. 
The  substantial  portion  of  antique  knowledge  and  civilization  never 
was  forgotten,  nor  was  its  better  spirit  disused,  but  through  subse- 
quent and  superior  invention  has  reappeared  in  many  of  the  best 
and  noblest  productions  of  modern  genius.  The  fullness  of  creative 
fancy  characterized  the  period  between  the  Trojan  adventurers  and 
the  times  of  Solon  and  Pericles,  the  fountain-head  of  that  variety, 
originality,  and  beauty,  which  marked  the  unrivaled  productions 
of  a  later  era.  What  that  primary  growth  was  to  the  richest  har- 
vest of  Greece,  the  early  centuries  of  mediseval  literature  were  to 


232 


LEO  X. 


all  the  diversified  wealth  of  modern  Europe.  The  fri^d  tempestu- 
ousness  of  winter  essentially  precedes  the  silent  process  of  vernal 
vegetation,  just  as  spring  must  go  before  the  rich  maturity  of  au- 
tumnal fruit.  When  the  sources  of  life  were  drjdng  up  in  the  im- 
mense body  of  Rome,  the  fountain  of  northern  energy  broke  upon 
the  mighty  colossus,  whose  head  was  still  of  iron,  though  its  feet 
were  of  clay.  It  fell  for  its  own  good  and  the  welfare  of  the  human 
race ;  for  the  sap  of  a  loftier  development  was  so  to  imbue  it,  that 
soon  it  should  be  created  anew,  full  of  a  diviner  strength  and  nobler 
life.  The  two  opposing  poles  thus  came  into  a  needful  contact  with 
each  other,  and,  by  means  of  the  elemental  struggle  occasioned  by 
the  civilization  of  the  one,  and  the  barbarism  of  the  other,  a  happy 
equilibrium  was  established  between  both.  The  rugged  North  has 
always  redeemed  the  effete  South,  and,  by  a  succession  of  such 
amalgamations,  secured  to  humanity  perpetual  improvement.  It  is 
only  in  this  way  that  new  races  are  assimilated  to  the  old  and 
raised  above  their  level.  The  inert  principle  of  barbarism  at  least 
possesses  granite  strength,  to  sustain  the  active  element  of  civihza- 
tion  and  bear  it  forward.  An  armful  of  green  fuel  thrown  upon  a 
dying  fire,  seems  to  quench  it  in  clouds  of  smoke ;  but  soon  the 
moisture  is  evaporated,  the  fibres  kindle  to  living  flames,  and  the 
hearth  glows  with  a  purer  and  more  grateful  brightness  than 
before. 

The  Middle  Ages,  according  to  the  ordinary  use  of  the  term, 
comprise  a  thousand  years,  and  extend  from  the  invasion  of  France 
by  Clovis,  to  that  of  Naples  by  Charles  VDI.  But  in  the  sense  of 
our  own  designation,  the  age  of  Leo  X.  includes  that  period,  and 
just  so  much  additional  time  as  was  requisite  to  the  full  expansion 
of  the  mediaeval  spirit,  when  it  was  superseded  by  another  age  as 
unhke  its  predecessor  as  this  is  different  from  the  two  which  in  suc- 
cession went  before.  We  should  guard  against  exaggerating  the 
influence  of  the  Germanic  invasions,  lest  we  assign  an  accidental 
character  to  the  temporal  condition  of  the  times  under  review.  The 
invasions  themselves  were  a  necessary  result  of  the  final  extinction 
of  Roman  domination.  In  our  late  sketch  of  the  progressive  great- 
ness of  that  power,  we  saw  that  the  Roman  empire  was  bounded 
on  one  side  by  the  great  oriental  theocracies,  too  remote  and  un- 
congenial for  incorporation ;  and  westward,  by  hunting  or  shepherd 


LITERATURE. 


0 

233 


hordes,  who,  not  being  settled  nations,  could  not  be  effectually  sub- 
dued. The  process  of  invasion  was  gradual  as  that  of  conquest, 
though  its  apparent  success  could  not  be  permanent  till  the  vigor 
of  the  Roman  heart  was  exhausted.  The  incorporation  of  bar- 
barians in  the  imperial  armies,  and  the  abandonment  of  certain 
provinces,  on  condition  that  new  invaders  should  be  kept  in  check, 
prepared  the  way  for  that  radical  and  marked  transition  which  was 
consunamated  in  the  fifth  century.  The  age  of  martial  force  was 
superseded  by  the  age  of  scientific  invention ;  an  age  full  of  mili- 
tary activity  in  its  first  centuries,  but  which  essentially  changed  its 
character  as  the  civilized  world  assumed  its  new  position.  It  almost 
immediately  lost  its  offensive  attitude,  and  exercised  those  defensive 
functions  which  so  strongly  characterized  feudal  life.  Political  dis- 
persion soon  prevailed  over  the  preceding  system  of  concentration  ; 
and  this  afforded  both  motive  and  scope  for  the  direct  and  special 
participation  of  individuals,  rather  than  the  thorough  subordination 
of  all  partial  movements  to  the  absolute  direction  of  centralized 
authority. 

As  in  the  preceding  ages,  so  in  this,  the  East  was  the  source  of 
all  subsequent  worth.  Italy,  in  the  northern  deluge,  was  the  pre- 
destined Mount  Ararat ;  the  last  reached  by  the  flood,  and  the  first 
left.  The  history  of  modern  Europe  must  necessarily  be  referred 
to  Florence,  as  the  history  of  all-conquering  force  has  ever  been 
ascribed  to  Rome.  The  great  ascendancy  of  the  Medici,  and  the 
influence  of  Italian  genius  at  that  epoch  on  literature,  art,  science, 
philosophy,  and  rehgion  of  the  world,  made  that  fair  city  the  centre 
of  light,  the  sovereign  of  thought,  the  beautifier  of  life,  and  the  me- 
tropolis of  civihzation.  The  fall  of  old  Rome  and  the  rise  of  new 
Italy,  were  events  as  desirable  as  they  were  inevitable.  The  mission 
of  the  former  had  ceased  before  any  foreign  nation  ventured  across 
the  Alps.  With  an  animal  instinct  the  superannuated  body  sum- 
moned all  the  remnants  of  vital  energy  to  the  heart,  only  to  wit- 
ness the  fatal  prostration  of  its  members,  and  realize  its  final  doom. 
Says  Mariotti,  "  The  barbarian  invasion  had  then  the  effect  of  an 
inundation  of  the  Nile.  It  found  a  land  exhausted  with  its  ovm 
efforts,  burning  and  withering  under  the  rays  of  the  same  tropical 
sun  which  had  called  into  action  its  productive  virtues,  and  languish- 
ing into  a  slow  decay,  fi'om  which  no  reaction  could  ever  redeem 


234 


LEO  X. 


it.  Then,  from  the  bosom  of  unexplored  mountains,  prepared  in 
the  silence  of  untrodden  regions,  the  flood  roared  from  above :  the 
overwhelming  element  washed  away  the  last  pale  remnants  of  a 
faded  vegetation  ;  but  the  seasons  had  their  own  course.  Gardens 
and  fields  smiled  again  on  those  desolate  marshes.  Palms  and 
cedars  again  waved  their  crests  to  the  skies  in  all  the  pride  of 
youth,  as  if  singing  the  praises  of  the  Creator,  and  attesting  that 
man  alone  perishes,  and  his  works — but  Nature  is  immortal." 

Until  the  age  of  Odoacer  and  Theodoric,  a.  d.  493,  there  was 
nothing  but  ravage  and  ruin;  but  then  the  morning  star  of  a 
brighter  day  arose,  and  under  the  auspices  of  these  two  monarchs, 
the  foundation  was  commenced  of  the  new  social  edifice.  Alboin, 
king  of  the  Lombards,  was  crowned  in  Italy,  about  a.  d.  568,  an 
epoch  in  which  the  great  crisis  which  divided  the  ancient  from  the 
modem  world  was  passed.  This  people  were  in  Italy  what  the 
Saxons  were  in  England.  They  were  the  bravest,  and  freest,  as 
well  as  most  barbarous  of  the  Teutonic  races.  The  conquest  of 
the  South  not  having  cost  them  a  drop  of  blood,  it  is  said  that  the 
whole  host,  as  they  descended  from  their  Alpine  fastnesses,  settled 
on  the  lands  of  fair  Italy,  rather  as  new  tenants  than  conquerors. 
They  carried  along  with  them  their  wives  and  families,  and  cher- 
ished their  adopted  home  with  ardent  enthusiasm.  Their  martial 
spirit  eventually  gave  place  to  other  not  less  active  and  laborious 
habits ;  and  through  their  love  of  home,  together  with  other  domes- 
tic virtues,  the  German  nations  gave  Italy,  as  well  as  Europe,  that 
form  of  government  of  which  our  own  age  has  witnessed  the  final 
catastrophe — the  feudal  system. 

The  Roman  frontier  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube, 
with  its  long  line  of  castles,  fortresses,  and  cities,  lay  mainly  within 
the  German  territory.  Here  the  nations  of  central  Europe  saw 
their  brethren  of  a  kindred  race  living  under  the  control  of  laws 
which  the  freer  classes  sought  to  repel  by  force  of  arms;  but 
they  could  but  observe  the  superior  advantages  of  civilization,  and 
desire  to  penetrate  those  beautiful  countries  whence  they  were  de- 
rived. Consequently  the  Suevi,  the  Saxons,  and  the  Goths 
opposed  to  the  Roman  fortifications  a  living  frontier-wall,  and  mov- 
ing westward,  not  only  possessed  themselves  of,  but  soon  peopled 
with  new  nations  and  vivifying  powers  both  the  South  and  ITorth. 


LITERATURE. 


235 


The  protracted  contest  between  the  kings  of  Lombardy  and  the 
Greek  Exarchs  of  Ravenna,  provoked  the  arbitration  of  the  Franks, 
and  led  to  the  establishment  of  their  protectorate  over  Italy ;  as 
afterwards  they  became  the  head  of  the  great  Christian  empire 
throned  in  Germany.  Thenceforward  the  Franks  constituted  the 
leading  state  of  the  West.  In  the  meantime  its  rival  power  in  the 
East,  the  Byzantine  empire,  was  sinking  even  lower  in  the  scale 
of  moral,  political,  and  intellectual  degradation.  At  the  fitting 
moment,  the  Saracenic  empire  was  called  into  provisional  existence, 
and  made  to  gather  under  the  tedious  uniformity  of  its  despotic 
protection  whatever  of  civilizing  elements  remained  in  the  orient, 
and  plant  them  where  they  might  unfold  a  more  salutary  life  from 
the  fresh  soil  of  the  European  West. 

The  Eastern  Empire,  founded  by  Constantine,  had  no  ennobling 
traditions  of  any  kind,  for  it  was  neither  Greece  nor  Rome.  It 
possessed  neither  the  power  nor  the  energy  requisite  to  discover 
and  appreciate  the  new  end  of  activity  introduced  by  Christian  ideas. 
Hence,  there  was  no  progress  in  the  intellectual  domain,  or  in  the 
fine  arts ;  hence,  also,  every  thing  that  tended  to  ameliorate  the 
social  state  and  exalt  all  ranks,  advanced  with  languor  at  Byzan- 
tium. It  was  her  oflSce  simply  to  guard  the  palladium  of  human 
weal  during  the  ten  centuries  of  western  formations,  and  then  to 
fall  to  rise  no  more  till  a  succeeding  cycle  shall  redeem  her  in 
common  with  the  entire  old  hemisphere. 

Greek  Uterature  continued  to  decline  under  the  Greek  emperors. 
A  vast  number  of  books,  produced  during  this  period,  have  been 
preserved,  but  only  a  very  small  portion  of  them  inspire  much  in- 
terest. It  is  a  singular  fact,  that,  even  when  the  Latin  language 
was  in  its  highest  cultivation,  no  Greek  seems  to  have  studied  it, 
much  less  to  have  attempted  to  write  it.  But  the  Latins,  on  the 
contrary,  so  long  as  any  taste  remained  among  them,  did  not 
cease  to  admire  and  to  cultivate  the  language  of  Greece.  Like 
every  other  valuable  current,  taste  and  learning  move  westward 
only.  Placed  between  Asia  and  Europe,  Byzantium  became  the 
great  centre  to  which  learned  men  could  resort,  and  stimulate  each 
other  by  mutual  collision.  Justinian  reigned  from  a.  d.  527  to 
565.  He  was  a  talented  prince,  who,  among  the  noblest  objects 
of  ambition,  disdained  not  the  less  illustrious  name  of  poet  and 


236 


LEO  X. 


philosopher,  lawyer  and  theologian,  musician  and  architect. 
It  might  have  been  expected  that  under  such  auspices  literature 
and  art  would  not  only  claim  the  highest  patronage,  but  produce 
corresponding  results.  Few  works,  however,  of  any  eminence 
appeared,  except  the  laborious  compilations  on  jurisprudence,  under 
the  titles  of  the  Code,  the  Pandects,  and  the  Institutes,  which  were 
partly  extracted  from  the  writings  of  former  civilians,  and  digested 
into  a  complete  system  of  law,  by  the  great  scholar  and  statesman 
Tribonian.  Justinian  espoused  such  labors  as  were  connected  with 
his  own  glory  ;  while  in  other  respects  he  has  been  represented  as 
an  enemy  to  learning,  when,  by  an  edict,  he  imposed  a  perpetual 
silence  on  the  schools  of  Athens ;  and  when,  from  rapacity,  or  from 
the  real  want  of  money  to  complete  the  expensive  edifices  on  which 
he  was  engaged,  he  confiscated  the  stipends,  which,  in  many  cities, 
had  been  appropriated  from  a  remote  period  to  support  the  masters 
of  liberal  arts. 

As  the  tide  ebbs  here,  it  rises  elsewhere.  When  the  Mohamme- 
dan civilization  had  spread  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning  toward 
the  "West,  where  it  was  overpowered  by  France,  Charlemagne  crea- 
ted the  first  real  elements  of  national  organization ;  he  so  modified 
sacred  and  secular  legislation  as  to  establish  civil  power  on  the 
basis  of  spiritual  authority.  This  followed  immediately  upon  that 
fusion  and  variety  to  which  Europe  is  indebted  for  all  that  mani- 
foldness  of  excellence  which  may  be  traced  in  modern  literature, 
art,  and  science.  During  ten  centuries,  a  general  confusion  and 
fermentation  was  all  that  the  superficial  might  observe;  but  a 
deeper  investigation  revealed  an  utility  in  the  decrees  of  Provi- 
dence of  the  sublimest  moment,  for  it  produced  a  new  civilization, 
the  richest  and  most  fertile  earth  had  borne.  Instead  of  universal 
ruin,  every  thing  bore  the  impress  of  regeneration.  There  was 
darkness,  indeed,  but  it  was  a  gloom  out  of  which  auspicious  light 
arose,  a  healthy,  vigorous  barbarism  which  contained  the  latent 
seed  of  loftiest  culture.  Society  at  large  was  for  a  long  time  a 
chaotic  mass,  not,  however,  of  dead  matter,  but  of  living  and  mov- 
ing germs  ready  to  spring  into  full  bloom  at  the  first  touch  of  crea- 
tive power.  As  from  the  bosom  of  primeval  night,  the  brightness, 
vitality,  and  order  of  the  universe  were  gradually  unfolded,  so  the 
poUtical  and  religious  institutions  of  the  Teutonic  race,  the  mighty 


LIT  ER  AT  UBE. 


237 


fabric  of  mediaeval  civilization,  sprung  from  the  inborn  vigor  of 
noble  barbarism.    Mind  was  not  less  active  nor  less  powerful  than 
that  in  earlier  ages,  but  still  contained  within  itself  the  eternal 
elements  from  which  a  new  creation  was  to  spring.    The  waters 
subsided,  and  fertile  soils  again  teemed  with  hfe ;  but  new  trees 
and  plants,  and  new  races  appeared,  and  but  few  vestiges  remained 
of  the  ancient  order  of  things.    It  is  cheering  to  contemplate  the 
progressive  national  development,  the  fullness  of  life,  the  stir,  the 
activity,  manifested  in  the  commerce  and  industry,  art  and  science 
of  Italy,  Spain,  France,  Germany,  and  England,  from  the  fifth  to 
the  fifteenth  century,  compared  with  the  mournful  monotony  which 
pervaded  the  Byzantine  empire.    The  dead  treasures  of  Grecian 
knowledge  were  never  turned  to  account  till  they  were  grasped  by 
the  vigorous  Teutonic  intellect  in  its  maturity,  and  when,  on  the 
destruction  of  the  eastern  empire,  the  seeds  of  that  immortal  litera- 
ture were  scattered  over  the  wide  domain  of  the  fi-ee  West.  The 
habits  of  mental  exertion,  prior  to  Pericles,  which  led  to  supreme 
political  and  intellectual  dominion  over  the  East^  were  confirmed 
by  the  emergencies  of  a  foreign  invasion.    The  genius  of  the 
Augustan  age  was  matured  in  the  civil  wars  which  rocked  the 
cradle  of  Rome  and  nourished  her  growth.    But  the  restoration  of 
literature  and  the  arts  in  western  Europe  was  achieved  through  an 
instrumentality  utterly  unlike  the  preceding  steps  of  human  ad- 
vancement; and  which,  in  vivacity  and  universality  of  interest 
prompted  thereby,  has  no  parallel  in  the  progress  of  our  race. 
The  passionate  exhilaration  then  kindled  by  great  popular  events, 
such  as  the  attempt  to  recover  the  Holy  Land,  transformed  all  sus- 
ceptible classes  too  powerfully  to  admit  of  a  relapse  into  apathy  or 
ignorance. 

Thus  the  line  of  demarcation  is  clear,  and  the  course  of  medi- 
aeval progress  is  not  less  evident.  The  tenth  year  of  the  fifth  century 
saw  Alaric  with  his  Goths  within  the  walls  of  Rome.  By  the  year 
476  of  our  era,  Africa  obeyed  the  Vandals ;  Spain  and  part  of  Gaul 
were  subject  to  the  Goths ;  the  Burgundians  and  Franks  occupied 
the  remainder ;  and  the  Saxons  ruled  the  most  of  Britain.  From 
the  great  "  Storehouse  of  Nations "  were  poured  forth  successive 
swarms  of  those  barbarous  tribes  who  were  our  progenitors,  and 
who,  in  the  moral  course  of  things,  pressed  on  from  change  to 


238 


LEO  X. 


change,  as  humanity  is  ever  compelled  to  ascend  the  arduous  steep 
of  excellence.  From  the  fifth  to  the  tenth  century,  the  various 
races  mingled  without  being  compounded  ;  but  the  collision  of 
mighty  nations,  and  the  mixture  of  diverse  mother-tongues,  soon 
confounded  all  the  dialects,  and  gave  rise  to  new  ones  iu  their 
place.  During  these  centuries  of  confusion  which  preceded  and 
prepared  the  way  for  modern  languages,  it  was  impossible  for 
Europe  to  possess  any  native  literature.  The  talent  for  writing  was 
small,  and,  indeed,  the  very  materials  were  yet  more  limited. 
Parchment  was  enormously  dear,  and  paper  was  not  yet  invented, 
or  introduced  by  commerce  into  the  West.  It  is  said  that  the 
most  sublime  works  of  antiquity  were  sometimes  erased,  for  the 
jDurpose  of  substituting  some  private  agreement  or  some  legen- 
dary tale. 

Literature,  the  immortality  of  speech,  embalms  all  monarchs  of 
thought,  and  guards  their  repose  in  the  eternal  pyramids  of  fame. 
"  What  is  writing  ?"  asked  Pepin,  the  son  of  Charlemagne.  Alcuin 
replied,  "It  is  the  guardian  of  history."  The  sumptuous  cities 
which  have  lighted  the  world  since  the  beginning  of  time,  and  all 
the  progressive  heroes  who  have  constituted  the  vanguard  of  na- 
tional improvement,  are  now  seen  only  in  the  light  furnished  by 
the  great  annalists  of  early  triumphs.  The  dart  that  pierced  the 
Persian  breast-plate  molders  in  the  dust  of  Marathon,  and  the 
gleam  of  the  battle-axe,  wielded  by  the  impassioned  crusader,  has 
passed  away ;  but  the  arrow  of  Pindar  still  quivers  with  the  life  of 
his  bow,  and  the  romantic  adventures  of  mediaeval  zeal  are  perpet- 
uated in  the  unwasting  freshness  of  new-bom  letters.  When 
Gothic  night  descended,  the  ancient  classics  were  for  a  time  forgot- 
ten ;  but  in  secluded  retreats  the  ritual  of  genius  continued  to  be 
solemnized,  and  the  sacred  fire  of  learning  burned  upon  its  shat- 
tered shrines,  until  torch  after  torch  carried  the  flame  to  the  re- 
motest quarter  in  the  track  of  the  sun.  That  light  never  sets,  but 
sheds  itself  upon  succeeding  generations  in  diversified  hues  of  splen- 
dor. Homer  glows  in  the  softened  beauty  of  Virgil,  and  Dante 
passed  the  purified  flambeau  to  Milton's  mightier  hand.  Litera- 
ture, like  art,  suffers  fearful  vicissitudes  and  mutilations ;  but,  unlike 
her  more  fragile  sister,  she  can  not  be  easily  destroyed.  A  casualty 
may  shatter  into  dust  that  statue  of  Minerva  whose  limbs  seemed 


LITERATURE. 


239 


to  breathe  under  the  flowing  robe,  and  her  lips  to  move ;  but  the 
fierceness  of  the  Goth,  the  fanaticism  of  the  crusader,  and  the 
frenzy  of  the  iconoclast,  have  not  extirpated  Penelope  and  Electra, 
nor  defaced  the  calm  beauty  of  sublime  martyr  worth. 

Poetry  is  the  making  of  thought,  and  not  the  least  interesting 
are  the  primitive  productions  of  those  who  created  the  vernacular 
dialects  of  modern  Europe.  They  call  glorious  shadows  into  the 
crystal  of  memory,  as  the  Charmer  of  their  day  peopled  his  glass 
with  faces  of  the  absent.  Mirrors  of  magic  represent  the  inventions 
of  the  minstrel ;  and  with  the  thrill  of  national  affinity  in  our 
heart,  our  eyes  perhaps  lend  a  fascinating  brightness  to  the  provi- 
dential wonders  they  behold. 

The  irruption  of  barbarians  above  described  gradually  shut  out 
from  the  world  the  old  Roman  literature,  and  a  period  of  general 
darkness  transpired  before  the  new  languages  arose  to  compensate 
for  the  loss.  But  while  the  corrupt  Latin  was  retiring,  the  Italian 
and  German  languages  were  assuming  their  native  form.  The 
langue  (Toe  of  the  south  of  France  was  flourishing,  closely  connected 
with  the  Catalan ;  and  the  langue  d'dil  of  the  north  was  rapidly 
becoming  the  French  language.  France  was  then  the  literary 
centre  of  Europe.  Through  the  Normans,  her  language  was  spread 
from  Sicily  to  England ;  her  vernacular  literature  was  imitated  in 
Germany,  and  became  naturalized  in  both  Italy  and  Spain.  The 
Troubadours  of  the  south  and  the  Trouveres  of  the  north  diftused  a 
taste  for  letters  in  every  direction,  and  their  gay  science  was  the 
partial  inspirer  and  faithful  companion  of  chivalry.  The  great  age 
of  Leo  was  commenced  when  the  common  people  were  addressed 
in  their  own  native  tongue,  and  it  was  indignantly,  but  truthfully, 
said,  that  "  all  the  splendid  distinctions  of  mankind  were  thereby 
thrown  down ;  and  the  naked  shepherd  levelled  with  the  knight 
clad  in  steel."  The  most  valuable  works  were  translated  into  the 
dialect  of  each  tribe  or  nation,  and  the  effect  of  this  circumstance 
was  very  great  in  multiplying  the  number  of  readers  and  of 
thinkers,  and  in  giving  stability  to  the  mutable  forms  of  oral  speech. 
Thus  the  foundations  of  the  great  social  movements  of  European 
civilization  were  laid,  in  those  modern  languages  which  were  the 
result  of  a  slow  popular  elaboration,  and  in  which  the  corresponding 
civihzation  is  reflected.    The  Italians  led  the  way,  and  lit  that 


240 


LEO  X. 


torch  which  was  passed  over  to  Switzerland,  and  thence  to  Germany, 
France,  Holland,  England,  and  the  still  remoter  West.  The  grave 
of  the  old  civilization  was  the  cradle  of  the  new ;  a  more  auspicious 
dispensation,  whose  divinest  apostles,  as  in  preceding  cycles,  were 
requited  with  crucifixion  and  martyrdom. 

The  first  period  of  Leoine  literature  arose  in  the  scholastico- 
romantic  epoch,  which  extended  down  to  the  renaissance,  or  epoch 
of  enthusiasm  for  pagan  antiquity.  The  temporal  supremacy  of 
this  was  prepared  when  Pepin  the  Younger  undertook  to  defend 
"  the  Holy  Church  of  the  Republic  of  God"  against  the  Lombards, 
and  compelled  them  to  evacuate  the  territory  held  by  the  Exarchate. 
He  placed  the  keys  of  the  conquered  towns  on  the  altar  of  St.  Peter, 
and  in  this  act  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  whole  temporal  power 
of  the  popes.  Thenceforward  the  Gallic  archbishops  and  monarchs 
received  both  pallium  and  crown  from  Rome,  and  all  great  powers 
were  exercised  in  the  West.  The  Merovingian  race  of  kings  h^d 
perished,  and  the  Carlovingian  house  ruled  with  imperial  splendor. 
While  all  the  East  was  sinking  into  one  common  ruin,  and  the 
whole  world  appeared  about  to  become  the  prey  of  the  Moslem,  the 
founder  of  this  famous  family,  Pepin  of  Heristral  caused  the  civil 
power  to  coalesce  wdth  ecclesiastical  dominion  under  Gregory  the 
Second,  and  presented  the  fii-st  effectual  resistance  to  the  Mahome- 
tan conquerors.  The  alliance  between  the  pope  and  the  emperor 
which  was  thus  begun,  Charlemagne  perfected,  and  received  his 
reward  when,  on  Christmas-eve,  a.  d.  800,  the  diadem  of  the 
western  empire  was  laid  upon  his  head  by  the  supreme  pontiff  in 
the  ancient  metropolis.  Says  Guizot,  in  his  History  of  Representa- 
tive Government,  "  Charlemagne  desired  conquests,  in  order  to  ex- 
tend his  renown  and  dominion  ;  the  Franks  were  unwilling  to  be 
without  a  share  in  their  own  government ;  Charlemagne  held  frequent 
national  assemblies,  and  employed  the  principal  members  of  the 
territorial  aristocracy  as  dukes,  counts,  missi-dominici,  and  in  other 
offices.  The  clergy  were  anxious  to  possess  consideration,  authority, 
and  wealth.  Charlemagne  held  them  in  great  respect,  employed 
many  bishops  in  the  pubHc  service,  bestowed  on  them  rich  endow- 
ments, and  attached  them  firmly  to  him,  by  proving  himself  a 
munificent  friend  and  patron  of  those  studies  of  which  they  were 
almost  the  only  cultivators.    In  every  direction  toward  which  the 


LITERATURE. 


241 


active  and  energetic  minds  of  the  time  turned  their  attention, 
Charlemagne  was  always  the  first  to  look ;  and  he  proved  himself 
more  warlike  than  the  warriors,  more  careful  of  the  interests  of  the 
church  than  her  most  devout  adherents,  a  greater  friend  of  litera- 
ture than  the  most  learned  men,  always  foremost  in  every  career, 
and  thus  bringing  eveiy  thing  to  a  kind  of  unity,  by  the  single  fact 
that  his  genius  was  every  where  in  harmony  with  his  age,  because 
he  was  its  most  perfect  representative,  and  that  he  was  capable  of 
ruling  it  because  he  was  superior  to  it.  But  the  men  who  are  thus 
before  their  age,  in  eveiy  respect,  are  the  only  men  who  can  gain 
followers ;  Charlemagne's  personal  superiority  was  the  indispensable 
condition  of  the  transitory  order  which  he  established."  This  new 
and  wonderful  stage  of  progress  in  the  social  relations  of  men,  and 
this  transformation  of  the  popular  mind  under  the  auspices  of  a 
Christian  form  of  government,  marked  the  seven  centuries  which 
elapsed  from  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  to  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World,  and  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation. 

That  vast  series  of  emigrations  which  planted  tribes  of  Gothic 
blood  over  large  tracts  of  Europe,  and  established  that  race  as  sove- 
reigns in  remote  regions,  came  also  into  the  British  Islands.  But 
the  Anglo-Saxon  invaders,  instead  of  planting  stationary  garrisons, 
like  the  Romans,  merely  to  overawe,  introduced  colonies,  with  an 
immense  stream  of  active  population.  The  gloom  which  long 
covered  this  field  of  high  designs  was  that  which  goes  before  the 
dawn,  and  bright  rays  were  soon  observed  to  shine  forth.  The 
fierce  savages  who  fought  under  Caractacus,  Boadicea,  or  Galgacus, 
and  those  Britons  who  at  a  later  period  occupied  the  stately  Roman 
towns  in  the  south  and  west  of  the  island,  or  cultivated  the  fertile 
districts  that  lay  around  their  walls,  were  succeeded  by  a  much 
superior  race.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  literature  bfegan  to  be  nourished 
by  the  consolidation  of  the  new  languages,  which  were  successively 
developed  in  all  European  countries  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
were  fully  adequate  as  instruments  for  recording  and  using  the 
results  of  human  advancement.  It  was  the  age  of  Theodoric, 
Charlemagne,  and  Alfred,  to  whose  royal  influence,  probably,  toge- 
ther with  the  dispersion  of  the  Normans,  should  be  accredited  the 
principal  occasions,  if  not  causes,  of  revived  intellect. 

At  the  accession  of  Charlemagne,  we  are  told  that  no  means  of 

11 


242 


LEO  X. 


education  existed  in  his  dominions ;  but  Theodulf  of  Gerraany, 
Alcuin  of  England,  and  Clement  of  Ireland,  were  the  true  Paladins 
who  repaired  to  his  court.  With  the  help  of  these  masters,  schools 
■were  established  in  all  the  chief  cities ;  nor  was  the  noble  monarch 
ashamed  to  be  the  disciple  of  that  in  his  ovyn  palace  under  the  care 
of  Alcuin.  As  early  as  the  ninth  century,  Lyons,  Fulda,  Corvey, 
Rheims,  and  other  large  towns,  enjoyed  flourishing  establishments 
of  learning.  At  an  earlier  period,  Pepin  requested  some  books 
from  the  pontiff,  Paul  I.  "  I  have  sent  to  you  what  books  I  could 
find,"  replied  his  holiness.  To  such  a  benefactor  to  the  apostolic 
see,  the  selection,  doubtless,  was  as  munificent  as  gratitude  could 
make  it ;  but,  in  fact,  only  seven  works  were  sent,  all  Greek  com- 
positions. From  the  beginning,  however,  books  fell  into  the  channel 
common  to  all  progress,  and  traveled  westward  only. 

In  the  sixth  century  lived  Gregory  of  Tours,  whose  ten  volumes 
of  original  annals  entitle  him  to  be  called  the  father  of  French  and 
German  story.  In  a.  d.  668,  Theodore,  an  Asiatic  Greek  by  birth, 
was  sent  to  old  England  by  the  pope,  through  whom  and  his  com- 
panion, Adrian,  some  knowledge  of  the  classics  was  diffused  among 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Early  in  the  eighth  century  arose  the  great 
ornament  of  that  age  and  island,  the  Venerable  Bede,  who  surpassed 
every  other  name  in  primitive  literature  of  indigenous  growth. 
The  central  school  of  York  was  established,  whence  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Alcuin  came  to  be  the  great  luminary  at  the  court  of  Char- 
lemagne. But  during  the  long  wars  waged  by  the  successors  of 
that  great  agent  of  Providence,  all  seemed  to  relapse  into  utter 
confusion  again,  and  ignorance  stretched  its  roots  deeper  down,  to 
the  year  one  thousand  of  our  era,  which  has  been  considered  as  the 
lowest  extreme  of  degradation,  the  nadir  of  human  intelligence. 
It  was  indeed  an  iron  age,  but  compared  with  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries,  the  tenth  possessed  superior  illumination  as  a 
whole.  Darkness  and  calamity  were  still  the  concomitants  of 
progress,  but  the  shadows  grew  fainter  as  night  declined,  and  the 
nations  rejoiced  in  the  new  twilight  which  reddened  into  the  lustre 
of  a  higher  day.  The  intellectual  energies  of  mankind  might  be 
impeded,  but  they  were  never  in  an  absolutely  stationary  condition ; 
but  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  were  born  in  the  fitting  time  and 
place  to  advance  the  landmarks  of  popular  improvement  and  the 


LITERATURE. 


243 


general  weal.  At  the  moment  when  the  great  West  lay  apparently 
toipid,  in  the  silent  formation  of  a  powerful  amalgamation  of  all  old 
historical  elements,  a  new  nation  was  suddenly  produced  to  gather 
up  whatever  valuable  relics  remained  in  the  East,  and  bring  them 
across  continents  to  the  great  fountain  of  subsequent  improvement. 
Masters  of  the  country  of  the  Magi,  and  the  Chaldeans,  whence  the 
first  light  had  shone  over  mankind ;  of  Egypt,  the  storehouse  of 
human  science ;  of  Asia  Minor,  that  fertile  and  beautiful  land,  where 
poetry  and  the  fine  arts  had  their  origin  ;  and  of  the  burning  plains 
of  Africa,  that  dark  domain  of  Ham,  the  country  of  impetuous  elo- 
quence, and  subtle  intellect;  Arabian  adventurers,  the  splendid 
bastard  progeny  of  Shem,  in  a  manner  combined  within  themselves 
the  advantages  of  all  the  nations  which  they  had  subjugated,  and 
laid  the  invaluable  treasures  they  accumulated  at  the  feet  of  Japhet, 
on  the  throne  of  the  West. 

Of  the  new  languages  which  were  produced  at  the  close  of  the 
tenth  century,  one  appeared  to  prevail  over  all  others,  and  became 
widely  spread.  Innumerable  writers  almost  cotemporaneously  em- 
ployed this  recent  vernacular,  which  owed  nothing  of  its  originality 
to  what  is  usually  termed  classical  literature.  They  rapidly  spread 
their  reputation  from  Spain  to  Italy,  and  from  Germany  to  England, 
and  as  suddenly  disappeared.  While  the  nations  were  yet  listening 
in  wonder,  the  voice  of  the  Troubadours  became  silent,  the  Proven- 
gal  dialect  was  abandoned,  and  its  productions  were  r^fnked  among 
the  dead  languages.  This,  too,  was  a  part  of  that  process  in  the 
moral  world,  as  in  the  natural,  wherein  the  fresh  germ  is  hidden 
beneath  decay,  and  that  which  we  in  our  short-sightedness  deplore, 
is  most  essential  to  the  new  life  already  proceeding  from  death. 
The  greatest  excellence  is  often  elaborated  amid  the  severest  trials, 
and  the  calamities  we  would  gladly  avert,  have  most  of  all  contrib- 
uted to  progress,  intellectual  and  moral. 

Simultaneous  with  the  Provencal  poetry,  chivalry  had  its  rise. 
It  was  the  soul  of  the  new  literature,  and  gave  to  it  a  character 
generically  different  from  any  thing  in  antiquity.  Chivalry  is  not 
synonymous  wiih  the  feudal  system;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the 
ideal  world,  such  as  it  existed  in  the  imagination  of  the  romance 
writers.  Devotion  to  woman,  and  to  honor,  constituted  its  essential 
character.    It  is  difficult  to  decide  who  were  the  inventors  of  that 


244 


LEO  X. 


chivali-ic  spirit  whict  burned  in  the  medijeval  romances ;  but  no  one 
can  fail  to  be  astonished  as  he  observes  how  splendid  and  sudden 
was  that  burst  of  genius  which  the  Troubadours  and  Trouvers  ex- 
emplified. That  it  did  not  originate  in  the  manners  and  traditions 
of  the  Germans,  seems  quite  evident.  Their  brave,  loyal,  but  rude 
habits,  could  never  have  contributed  to  the  development  of  the  sen- 
timent and  heroism  of  chivalry.  The  romance  writers  of  the  twelfth 
century  placed  the  age  of  chivalry  in  the  time  of  Charlemag-ne,  and 
caused  the  Paladins  of  his  court,  as  well  as  the  famous  emperor 
himself,  to  figure  in  many  of  the  gorgeous  fictions  of  loyalty,  virtue, 
and  grace.  Chivalry  existed  rather  in  gallantry  and  sentiment, 
than  in  imagination ;  it  was  a  lyric  to  be  sung,  and  not  an  epic  to 
be  read.  Its  spirit  hovered  over  the  age  at  large,  but  the  first  ro- 
mances actually  composed,  were  produced  in  northern  France, 
and  especially  in  Normandy.  As  the  renovating  tempest  deepened 
its  tumultuous  might,  heaven  came  down  to  mitigate  the  savageness 
of  earth,  and  religious  gallantry  soon  made  humane  gentleness  an 
indispensable  accompaniment  of  true  valor.  Thus  the  spirit  of 
chivalry  was  a  consequence  of  feudal  life,  as  it  was  an  antidote 
against  its  evils.  By  the  mediaeval  poets  and  romancers,  we  are 
carried  into  an  exalted  realm,  wherein  all  things  are  great  and 
marvelous.  On  every  hand  we  come  in  contact  with  feats  of 
prowess,  tempered  by  generosity.  The  fierce  spirit  of  the  northern 
genius  combines  with  the  enthusiastic  zeal  of  courteous  bearing 
common  to  the  south ;  and  the  imagination  is  often  elevated  to  its 
highest  pitch  by  the  tremendous  solemnities  of  Gothic  superstition. 
Revelations  of  enrapturing  beauty  are  mingled  with  the  most  fright- 
ful scenes  of  magical  incantation,  and  such  other  images  of  terror 
as  could  have  originated  only  in  the  wild  conceptions  of  Teutonic 
mind. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  scholars,  romance  originated  in  Arabia, 
and  was  brought  by  that  imaginative  people  from  the  remote  East. 
That  Odin  came  into  Saxony  out  of  Asia,  is  a  Scandinavian  tradi- 
tion; and  Tacitus  mentions  in  his  work  on  the  manners  of  the 
Germans,  a  legend  according  to  which,  Ulysses  came  in  the  course 
of  his  wanderings  into  central  Germany,  and  there  founded  the  city 
of  Asciburgum.  What  Solon  was  to  the  Homeridse,  Charlemagne 
was  to  the  primitive  bards  of  his  land,  for  he  caused  all  the  popular 


LITERATURE. 


245 


songs  to  be  collected  and  committed  to  writing.  The  substance  of 
many  of  those  early  poems  we  still  possess  in  the  Lay  of  the  Ni- 
belungen,  and  the  Heldenbuck,  or  Book  of  Heroes,  but  these  were 
produced  at  a  period  later  than  well-defined  romance  in  France. 
Properly  speaking,  chivalry  was  a  Norman  invention,  whose  heroes 
were  never  tired  of  roving  through  France,  Brittany,  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland.  It  began  far  back  in  the  middle  age,  and 
was  perfected  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

In  the  first  portion  of  the  mediaeval  epoch,  that  of  Charlemagne, 
down  to  the  time  of  pope  Gregory  the  Seventh,  and  the  convulsive 
movements  of  the  crusades,  the  prevailing  character  of  the  age  was 
great  and  simple,  earnest,  but  mild  withal.  It  soon  became  charac- 
terized by  a  marvelous  daring,  by  lofty  enthusiasm,  and  universal 
enterprise  in  real  life,  as  well  as  in  the  domain  of  imagination.  The 
age  of  chivalry,  crusades,  romance,  and  minstrelsy,  was  a  special 
season  of  unfolding  intellect  and  mental  blossoming ;  it  was  the  pre- 
cursor of  accelerated  progress,  the  great  intellectual  spring-tide 
among  all  the  nations  of  the  West.  If  the  literature  of  any  nation 
is  not  preceded  by  a  poetical  antiquity  before  amving  at  the  pe- 
riod of  mature  and  artistic  development,  it  can  never  attain  a  national 
character,  nor  breathe  the  spirit  of  independent  originality.  What 
the  heroical  period  was  to  the  age  of  Pericles,  and  again  to  the  age 
of  Augustus,  the  first  centuries  of  the  age  of  Leo  X.  were  to  mod- 
ern Europe.  The  fullness  of  creative  fancy  was  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  alike  in  each  successive  instance.  Legendary  litera- 
ture was  exceedingly  prevalent  and  influential  from  the  seventh  to 
the  tenth  century,  that  is,  just  about  the  time  when  modern  civiliza- 
tion was  struggling  into  existence.  Guizot  happily  expresses  the 
truth  on  this  point.  "  As  after  the  siege  of  Troy  there  were  found, 
in  every  city  of  Greece,  men  who  collected  the  traditions  and  ad- 
ventures of  heroes,  and  sung  them  for  the  recreation  of  the  people, 
till  these  recitals  became  a  national  passion,  a  national  poetry  ;  so, 
at  the  time  of  which  we  speak,  the  traditions  of  what  may  be 
called  the  heroic  ages  of  Christianity  had  the  same  interest  for  the 
nations  of  Europe.  There  were  men  who  made  it  their  business  to 
collect  them,  to  transcribe  them,  to  read  or  recite  them  aloud,  for 
the  edification  and  dehght  of  the  people.  And  this  was  the  only 
literature,  properly  so  called,  of  that  time." 


246 


LEO  X. 


The  crusades  were  not  less  providential  in  their  origin,  than  they 
were  contagious  in  their  progress,  and  revolutionary  in  their  con- 
sequences. A  sudden  frenzy  took  possession  of  the  minds  of  the 
western  world,  and  poured  itself  upon  the  exhausted  realms  of  the 
East,  to  the  end  that  whatever  remriants  of  good  might  yet  remain 
therein,  should  be  borne  as  a  timely  contribution  to  the  new  and 
more  auspicious  field.  This  important  movement  originated  in  the 
cultivated  mind  of  Gerbert,  in  the  first  year  of  his  pontificate ;  was 
accelerated  by  Hildebrand,  and  carried  into  most  eff"ectual  execu- 
tion by  Urban  11.  and  the  eloquent  Peter  the  Hermit.  The  first 
army  marched  a.  d.  1096,  and  in  1099  Jerusalem  was  taken.  The 
advantages  derived  from  this  event,  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  were 
very  great.  The  western  champions  of  the  cross  in  general  passed 
through  the  great  capital  of  the  East ;  and  in  their  transit  the  gates 
of  Constantinople,  and  the  palaces  and  churches,  with  their  sump- 
tuous and  splendid  decorations,  were  thrown  open  to  their  admiring 
view.  This  intercourse  with  a  refined  people,  however  transient, 
afforded  the  experience  of  many  social  conveniences,  fresh  concep* 
tions  of  the  refinements  of  polished  letters  and  arts,  together  with 
the  partial  knowledge  of  a  language  in  which  few  could  be  ignorant 
that  works  of  immortal  renown  had  been  composed.  Moreover, 
many  Greek  scholars,  who  could  no  longer  find  either  employment 
or  Security  at  home,  emigrated  into  diff'erent  regions  of  the  West, 
and  contributed  largely  to  the  promotion  of  learning,  and  to 
awaken  the  first  feelings  of  a  laudable  curiosity  which  subsequent 
events  more  fully  satisfied. 

It  should  be  also  noted  as  a  curious  incident  in  the  labyrinth  of 
human  aff'airs,  that  these  crusading  armies  in  their  march  toward 
the  East,  with  a  religious  intent,  most  effectually  promoted  the 
poHtical  amelioration  of  the  West.  Individuals  began  to  be  freely 
and  personally  attached  to  other  individuals,  while  all  in  common 
were  attached  to  some  particular  town  or  city.  This  tie,  which 
among  the  earlier  barbarian  tribes  began  under  the  relationship  of 
chief  and  companion,  at  the  crusading  era  was  fortified  by  the  rela- 
tion of  sovereign  and  vassal.  Under  this  latter  form,  the  principle  had 
a  wide  and  mighty  influence  upon  the  progress  of  civilization  until 
its  use  had  ceased,  and  better  agencies  supervened.  Confusion  and 
disorder  prevailed  for  a  while,  but  man  is  evermore  haunted  by  a 


LITERATURE. 


247 


taste  for  order  and  improvement.  He  may  be  rude,  headstrong, 
and  ignorant,  but  there  is  within  him  a  still  small  voice,  an  instinct 
which  aspires  toward  another  and  a  higher  destiny.  Modern  lib- 
erty is  the  offspring  of  feudalism.  That  system  broke  into  pieces 
the  before  unbroken  empire  of  despotism.  It  contained  prolific 
seeds  which  took  root  in  a  rugged  soil,  ready  to  be  transplanted 
where  they  would  grow  more  stately  and  gracefully,  and  bear  a 
better  and  more  abundant  fruit.  The  crusades  struck  the  death- 
blow to  the  feudal  system,  created  the  only  available  transition 
from  despotism  to  monarchy,  and  thus  opened  that  westward  ave- 
nue which  was  the  grand  arena  of  struggles  for  liberty.  It  was 
feudalism  that  gave  birth  to  all  that  was  noble,  generous,  and 
faithful,  in  the  sentiments  of  truth  end  honor  which  graced  the 
humble  village  shrine,  or  lofty  baronial  hall.  The  first  literary 
delights  which  Europe  tasted  while  emerging  -from  barbarism, 
sprung  up  under  the  protection  of  feudalism ;  and  it  is  to  the  same 
source  that  all  the  intellectual  monuments  of  Germany,  France,  and 
England,  are  to  be  traced. 

At  the  close  of  the  ninth  century  appeared  RoUo,  w^ho  led  the 
flower  of  the  JSTorwegian  nobles,  the  chivalry  of  western  Scandina- 
via. They  embarked  not  for  plunder,  but  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  empire,  to  seek  an  appropriate  field  whereon  to  work  out  the 
great  destiny  for  which  they  were  reserved.  They  founded  the 
order  of  Gentlemen^  whose  mission  was  to  diffuse  that  spirit  of  chiv- 
alry which  had  but  dimly  dawned  on  the  imagination  of  the  older 
world,  in  the  isolated  careers  of  a  Pericles,  Epaminondas,  or  Scipio. 
To  them  belonged  a  rank  and  a  nobility  that  resides  not  in  prerog- 
ative, and  has  no  necessary  connection  wdth  coronets  and  ermine. 
It  was  that  innate  dignity  which  kings  can  not  give,  or  parliaments 
annul ;  a  distinction  the  Norman  might  well  be  proud  to  recognize 
as  the  birth-right  of  his  fathers  and  his  own.  The  best  qualities 
of  the  Teutonic  nations,  to  whom  the  cause  of  universal  civilization 
is  intrusted,  find  their  germ  in  the  genius  of  the  Norman  race.  It 
is  for  that  reason  that  we  should  linger  reverently  through  the 
aisles  once  echoing  to  their  tread,  by  the  columns  once  darkened 
with  their  shadows,  the  fortresses  that  sheltered  them  while  living, 
and  the  tombs  that  received  them  when  dead.  Let  us  never  forget 
that  while  the  monasteries  were  preserving  the  precious  monuments 


248  LEO  X. 

of  the  old  world,  the  recesses  of  baronial  heights  witnessed  the 
first  essays  of  literature,  and  fostered  the  earliest  productions  of 
European  imagination.  But  letters  continued  to  decline  from  the 
fall  of  the  western  empire,  for  nearly  five  hundred  years ;  they  then 
gradually  improved  for  about  the  same  period,  until  they  arrived 
at  the  highest  splendor  in  the  golden  age  of  Leo  X.  From  the 
opening  of  the  eleventh  century  the  prospects  of  literature  began  to 
brighten.  Gerbert,  Anselm,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Scotus,  and  Roger 
Bacon,  were  resplendent  lights  to  herald  yet  mightier  names. 

During  the  long  period  which  elapsed  from  the  growth  of  feu- 
dality out  of  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  complete 
development  of  the  principle  of  monarchy  out  of  the  feudal  system, 
only  one  country  guarded  the  elements  of  representative  govern- 
ment, and  caused  them  finally  to  prevail.  From  the  beginning,  the 
Anglo-Saxons  lived  most  upon  their  own  resources,  and  gave  birth 
to  their  own  civilization.  From  the  fifth  to  the  eleventh  century, 
their  institutions  received  the  most  natural  and  perfect  develop- 
ment. Soon  after  the  Saxon  Heptarchy  had  been  founded,  as  early 
as  A.  D.  582,  the  Danes  and  Romans  made  their  way  into  England, 
and  contributed  greatly  to  the  national  worth.  Alfred  was  a  glori- 
ous exemplification  of  the  truth,  at  a  later  period  illustrated  by 
Gustavus  Vasa  and  Henry  IV.  of  France,  that  the  greatest  princes 
are  those  who,  though  born  to  the  throne,  are  nevertheless  obliged 
to  conquer  its  possession.  Canute,  the  Dane,  ascended  the  throne 
after  Alfred,  and  was  succeeded  by  Edward  the  Confessor,  who  was 
the  last  of  the  old  Saxon  dynasty  restored.  William,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  contested  the  English  throne  with  Harold,  after  Edward 
■"died,  and  on  the  14th  of  October  1066,  triumphed  on  the  field  of 
Hastings.  Thus  were  the  feudal  institutions  introduced  into  Eng- 
land when  in  their  fullest  vigor  on  the  continent.  All  this  was 
most  opportune,  since  it  bound  the  Normans  to  one  another,  and 
united  the  Saxons  among  themselves.  It  brought  the  two  nations 
into  the  presence  of  each  other  with  mutual  powers  and  rights,  and 
effected  an  amalgamation  of  the  two  systems  of  institutions  under 
the  sway  of  a  strong  central  power,  the  most  auspicious  of  ulterior 
results.  This  led  directly  to  the  predominance  of  a  system  of  free 
government  in  England,  and  was  consummated  at  exactly  the  right 
place  and  hour. 


LITERATURE. 


249 


It  could  not  be  expected  that  rauch  literary  worth  would  appear 
immediately  after  the  Norman  conquest.  But  the  twelfih  century, 
from  the  accomplished  Henry  Beauclerc  to  the  chivalrous  Coeur  de 
Lion,  was  greatly  distinguished  for  classical  scholarship,  and  con- 
tinental literature  of  a  recent  formation  began  to  be  studied  in 
England.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  the  Great  Charter  was  extorted 
from  King  John,  and  intellectual  progress  was  equalled  only  by 
commercial  advancement  and  constitutional  freedom.  During  all 
this  perpetual  progress  through  its  fluctuating  stages,  the  English 
universities  were  founded  or  regularly  organized,  as  the  g-uarantees 
of  mental  enfranchisement ;  and  the  single-handed  heroism  of 
Wallace  in  Scotland  gave  assurance  of  that  patriotic  spirit  which 
was  predestined  to  achieve  a  thousand  triumphs  beyond  the  field  of 
Bannockburn. 

The  commencement  of  the  twelfth  century  saw  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  communes  in  France.  Louis  le  Gros  was  the  first 
monarch  who  granted  royal  charters  to  fi'ee  cities,  if  he  was  not 
the  first  to  found  them.  Kings  began  by  granting  privileges  of 
freedom  to  towns,  in  order  to  use  them  in  bridling  the  power  of  the 
nobility ;  but,  contrary  to  human  designs,  the  towns  ended  by  exer- 
cising their  newly  developed  rights  in  restricting  the  power  of  both 
kings  and  nobihty.  The  old  forms  of  dependencies  dissolved,  and 
the  breaking  up  of  the  system  of  servitude  caused  the  whole  frame 
of  society  to  be  better  adjusted  than  it  was  ever  before.  At  this  time, 
too,  commenced  the  true  nationality  of  Italy,  which  was  signahzed 
by  the  rise  of  a  splendid  literature  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  and 
which,  though  it  was  difierent  from  that  produced  by  the  cotem- 
porary  spirit  of  the  North,  was  equally  prophetic  of  great  improve- 
ment to  the  world.  One  common  impulse  for  the  attainment 
of  a  higher  civilization  reigned  throughout  the  western  world,  and 
was  now  approaching  the  highest  type  of  perfection.  At  this  epoch 
commenced  the  ballad  poetry,  which  was  the  foundation  of  all  the 
best  literature  of  modern  times.  Then  was  written  those  invaluable 
chronicles,  which  have  preserved  the  living  picture,  the  very  form 
and  pressure  of  society  as  it  existed  in  the  early  centuries  of  chiv- 
alry and  romance.  Thus  that  feudal  system,  which  was  intro- 
duced into  Italy  by  the  Lombard  kings,  and  proved  fatal  to  its 
institutors,  ended  by  snatching  the  sceptre  from  their  hands.  De- 

11* 


250 


LEO  X. 


mocracy  rose  against  feudalism  with  the  same  success  with  which 
feudalism  had  overthrown  monarchy,  and  on  the  same  eastern 
edge  of  empire,  rose  a  new  tide  of  yet  more  ennobling  might  which 
swept  gloriously  westward  over  the  field  so  providentially  prepared. 
As  we  ascend  the  stream  of  time,  successive  generations  and  their 
achievements  vanish  like  bubbles  from  the  surface  ;  but  they 
nevertheless  swell  the  precious  undercurrent  of  civilization  which, 
with  perpetually  augmented  wealth  and  momentum,  flows  onward 
to  its  goal. 

During  this  entire  cycle,  Florence  was  the  great  centre  around 
which  all  elements  gathered  and  were  blended  in  an  identity  of 
character  and  influence.  Under  the  Medici,  the  first  Cosmo,  and 
Lorenzo  the  Great,  this  fair  city  became  the  central  seminary  of 
elegant  letters  and  profound  erudition  before  the  culminative  excel- 
lence of  art  therein  was  reached  under  the  auspices  of  Leo  X.  In 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  classical  learning  was  highly 
esteemed,  and  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  it  was  an  absolute 
necessity  to  any  one  with  pretensions  to  learning.  Tuscany  soon 
revelled  in  a  glorious  native  literature,  one  as  fresh  as  when  it  grew 
on  the  rich  soils  of  Rome  and  Greece.  Its  truths  were  everywhere 
received,  as  Bacon  beautifully  says,  like  "  the  breath  and  purer 
spirit  of  the  earliest  knowledge  floating  to  us  in  tones  made  musi- 
sical  by  Grecian  flutes."  Unlike  the  Augustan  age  of  literature, 
the  Leoine  was  not  suffocated  under  the  wealth  it  had  plundered. 
If  the  knowledge  of  modern  Europe  had  been  otherwise  com- 
pounded, it  would  have  been  neither  so  permanent  nor  effectual. 
Just  enough  of  classic  art  and  literature  remained  to  facilitate  and 
direct  the  growth  of  original  excellence,  and  too  little  to  destroy 
the  characteristics  of  native  worth.  The  materials  of  a  former 
world  were  subordinated  to  a  new  structure,  but  both  plan  and  ele- 
vation bore  the  aspect  of  a  mightier  spirit  and  more  progressive  race. 

To  the  Phoenicians,  a  nation  of  merchants,  the  ancient  world 
was  indebted  for  the  invention  of  letters ;  and  to  the  Florentines, 
a  city  of  merchants,  the  modern  world  is  indebted  for  the  greatest 
literary  improvements.  As  the  commercial  republics  of  Greece 
were  the  first  to  carry  to  perfection  the  arts  of  poetry,  sculpture, 
and  painting,  the  commercial  repubHcs  of  Italy  and  the  Nether- 
lands were  the  first  to  promote  them  at  the  revival,  and  to  add  new 


LITERATURE. 


251 


inventions  to  tlie  ancient  heritage.  From  tlie  remains  of  Byzan- 
tine libraries,  and  the  scriptona  of  British  and  German  monasteries, 
a  merchant  of  Florence  collected  the  long  forgotten  works  of  an- 
tique writers,  and  greatly  enriched  the  first  library  of  the  West,  by 
importations  from  Alexandria  and  Greece.  A  descendant  of  that 
merchant,  in  the  same  city,  instituted  a  school  for  the  study  of 
antiquities ;  and,  as  the  friend  of  Michael  Angelo,  was  the  munifi- 
cent patron  of  learning  and  genius.  A  son  of  the  latter  followed 
in  the  same  glorious  career,  and  by  his  exertions  in  behalf  of 
liberal  culture,  hke  Augustus  and  Pericles,  gave  his  name  to  a 
brilliant  age. 

As  Florence  was  the  central  city  of  the  age  now  under  review, 
so  Dante  Alighieri  was  its  central  literary  light.  He  represented 
in  perfect  balance  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties  then  em- 
ployed, and  in  him  the  romantic  element  reached  at  once  the  most 
distinct  and  noble  development.  Born  at  Florence,  a.  d.  1265,  in 
harmony  with  the  manifest  rule  of  Providence  he  appeared  at  the 
time  and  place  wherein  he  could  best  do  his  appointed  work.  The 
epoch  in  which  he  lived  followed  immediately  upon  that  in  which 
the  Swabian  minstrelsy  began  to  echo  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
Alps ;  and  it  would  seem  that  he  emulated  their  picturesqueness  as 
he  described  the  moving  breeze,  the  trembhng  light  of  the  gently 
moving  sea,  the  bursting  of  the  clouds,  the  swelling  of  the  rivers, 
and  the  entrance  into  the  thick  grove  of  the  earthly  paradise. 
Modern  poetry  began  with  Dante,  who,  in  a  great  measure,  per- 
fected the  Itahan  tongue,  which  was  before  rude  and  inharmo- 
nious, but  by  him  was  fitted  for  the  muses  to  adopt  as  their  own. 
In  1302,  the  political  party  he  had  espoused  was  vanquished,  and 
Dante  Vas  forced  into  exile.  But  he  continued  to  prosecute  his 
glorious  career  until  1321,  when  he  died  at  Ravenna. 

Hiding  its  infancy  amid  the  darkness  of  ages,  the  Italian  language 
became  silently  matured  by  the  working  of  the  secret  people,  until 
the  moment  arrived  for  a  literature  of  life  to  spring  full-grown  and 
armed,  Hke  Minerva,  from  the  head  of  its  great  father,  Dante.  He 
was  not,  like  Homer,  the  creator  of  poetry  in  the  simplicity  of 
childhood  out  of  the  arms  of  mother  earth ;  rather,  he  was  like 
Noah,  the  father  of  a  second  poetical  world,  fraught  with  all  the 
treasm'es  of  antediluvian  wealth,  and  yet  glowing  amidst  superior 


252 


LEO  X. 


charms  of  more  recent  gi-owth.  This  fact  he  has  himself  strikingly 
portrayed,  by  representing  his  awful  pilgrimage  through  other 
worlds  as  being  made  under  the  guidance  of  Virgil.  The  influence 
of  the  great  epic  by  Dante  upon  Italy  has  been  compared  to  that 
which  was  exerted  by  the  spark  of  the  sun  upon  the  personified 
clay  of  Prometheus.  And  yet  his  pen  was  a  strong  chisel  rather 
than  a  delicate  one ;  by  a  few  bold  strokes  giving  the  outhnes  of 
life  to  the  rough  marble,  but  requiring  the  hand  of  a  finer  organi- 
zation to  elaborate  the  rude  unfinished  block. 

To  meet  this  want,  Petrarch  was  born  a.  d.  1304.  He  was 
gifted  with  a  gentler  temper  than  his  great  predecessor,  and  steered 
his  bark  with  a  rare  prosperity  amidst  the  perils  of  a  stormy  age. 
Invited  to  the  same  courts  where  Dante  had  languished  in  neglect, 
Petrarch  acted  the  part  of  a  mediator ;  and  his  presence  was  soli- 
cited by  opposite  factions  like  that  of  the  blind  old  (Edipus,  pro- 
duced by  turns  by  his  unnatural  sons,  as  a  pledge  of  the  justice  of 
their  claims  in  the  eyes  of  the  Thebans.  Petrarch  had  seen  Dante 
at  his  paternal  house,  in  Arezzo,  and  the  stern  features  of  that  soli- 
tary genius  left  an  indehble  impression  among  the  gorgeous  dreams 
of  his  young  mind.  Following  the  destinies  of  his  parent,  and  of 
universal  humanity,  he  went  early  to  the  western  court  at  Avignon, 
where  he  dissolved  his  heart  in  his  writings,  and  anticipated  the 
laurel  which  was  to  press  heavily  on  his  dazzling  but  weary  brow. 

If  Dante  and  Petrarch  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  morning  stars 
of  modern  literature,  it  should  be  noted  that  the  bright  luminary 
of  Boccaccio  came  early  into  the  auspicious  group.  The  latter  was 
born  A.jy.  1313,  at  Paris.  Petrarch  gave  purity  and  elegance  to 
the  Italian  sonnet,  and  Boccaccio  created  the  first  masterpiece  of 
native  prose.  These  two  kindred  minds,  coming  into  efficient  co- 
operation at  the  close  of  Dante's  tempestuous  career,  took  up  the 
mantle  at  the  moment  it  fell  from  the  shoulders  of  the  great  pro- 
phet, and  achieved  the  consummation  of  his  mission.  They  first 
met  at  the  court  of  King  Robert  in  IS'aples,  and  thenceforth 
strengthened  a  mutual  esteem,  while  they  indulged  genial  tastes  in 
the  favorite  haunts  of  their  evening  walks  around  Virgil's  tomb. 

By  a  rare  phenomenon,  these  three  creative  and  predominant 
minds  were  produced  in  the  same  country,  in  the  same  age,  and 
their  grandest  works  were  executed  in  the  same  city.    Each  of 


LITERATURE. 


253 


them  was  so  tempered  as  to  adapt  tlie  timely  triad  to  widely  differ- 
ent  and  yet  equally  important  purposes.  These  supreme  lights, 
however,  did  not  shine  alone,  but  each  was  accompanied  by  subor- 
dinate planets  and  satellites,  which,  as  they  received  their  effulgence 
from  the  supreme  luminary,  so  were  they  gradually  eclipsed,  until 
they  disappeared  in  the  distance  of  age.  The  three  patriarchs  of 
literature  in  the  cycle  of  Leo  X.,  thus  rapidly  glanced  at,  turned 
the  attention  of  their  countrymen  from  the  bewilderments  of  ro- 
mance to  more  substantial  worth.  Dante,  with  the  energies  of  a 
Titan,  threw  out  great  masses  of  thought ;  and  the  lyrical  finish  of 
Petrarch,  with  the  garrulous  graces  of  Boccaccio  opened  other 
quarries  of  attractive  material.  The  two  last  mentioned  both  died 
in  1374. 

The  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  witnessed  great  ardor  for 
antiquity.  A  prouder  sense  of  nationality  had  seized  upon  the  pop- 
ular heart,  and  there  was  a  growing  ambition  to  emulate  the  past 
and  improve  the  future.  Petrarch  fired  the  general  enthusiasm  for 
antique  monuments,  and  Rienzi  eloquently  revived  patriotic  asso- 
ciations connected  therewith.  Each  leading  city  became  a  new 
Athens,  and  the  revived  age  could  boast  its  historians,  poets,  and 
orators.  Naples,  Rome,  Venice,  Bologna,  and  Florence,  vied  with 
each  other,  not  in  aims,  but  in  the  splendid  triumphs  of  genius. 
Books  were  multiplied  by  numerous  expert  copyists  at  Bologna  and 
Milan ;  while  Florence,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Medici,  became 
the  great  metropolis  of  original  productions.  The  middle  of  this 
century  formed  the  culminating  point  of  classical  enthusiasm,  and 
marked  an  age  of  great  mental  enlargement  in  every  department  of 
literature.  Hallam,  referring  to  the  intellectual  pope  Nicholas  V., 
in  contrast  with  his  famous  predecessor  Gregory  I.,  who  denounced 
ancient  learning,  says :  "  These  eminent  men,  like  Michael  Angelo's 
figures  of  Night  and  Morning,  seem  to  stand  at  the  two  gates  of 
the  middle  ages,  emblems  and  heralds  of  the  mind's  long  sleep,  and 
of  its  awakening." 

But  the  greatest  glory  of  this  period  was  the  invention  of  print- 
ing, which  will  be  more  particularly  noticed  under  another  head. 
The  influence  given  to  the  restoration  of  letters  was  not  suspended 
by  the  death  of  Cosmo  de  Medici,  which  occurred  in  1464.  His 
wealth  and  influence  over  Florence  then  devolved  on  his  grandson 


254 


LEO  X. 


Lorenzo,  who  employed  his  great  resources  in  the  most  distin 
guished  patronage  of  literature  and  art.  His  intimate  personal 
friend,  Luigi  Pulci,  was  a  leading  poet  of  the  modern  school,  and 
published  the  first  edition  of  his  Morgante  Maggiore  at  Venice,  in 
1481.  None  of  the  honor  attached  to  the  invention  of  printing 
belongs  to  Italy,  but  it  is  to  be  noted  how  the  practical  use  of  that 
sublime  art  began  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  peninsula  it  was  des- 
tined to  revolutionize.  The  famous  Florentine  ecclesiastic  Poggio, 
devoted  himself  particularly  to  the  collection  of  choice  manuscripts, 
and  his  exertions  were  crowned  with  great  success.  Fifty  years  so 
employed  attested  the  value  of  his  perseverance  and  sagacity. 
Politian  also  contributed  much  to  the  glory  of  this  epoch. 

Paul  II.  bestowed  special  favor  upon  his  countrymen,  the 
Venitians,  and  this  is  supposed  to  have  induced  the  acute  and 
pro\ddent  Lorenzo  to  attempt  the  establishment  of  the  chief  ecclesi- 
astical power,  also,  in  his  own  family.  Giovanni  de  Medici  was 
early  destined  to  the  church,  and  produced  those  important  efiects 
upon  Europe  and  the  world  which  were  so  conspicuous  in  his  pon- 
tificate. Leo  X.  became  pope  in  1513.  In  his  patronage  of 
literature,  he  was  the  worthy  successor  of  Nicholas  V.,  and  began 
by  placing  men  of  letters  in  the  most  honorable  stations  of  his 
court.  The  great  poets  of  that  century,  Ariosto,  Sanazzaro,  the 
Tassos,  Rucellai,  Guarini,  and  the  rest,  produced  their  works  during 
his  reign.  Under  his  auspices,  the  great  libraries  of  the  age  were 
immensely  enriched,  and  more  than  one  hundred  professors  in  a 
single  university  were  restored  to  their  alienated  revenues.  Through 
the  agency  of  the  apostolical  secretary,  Beroaldo,  the  first  five 
books  of  the  Annals  of  Tacitus  were  published,  which  had  lately 
been  found  in  a  German  monastery.  Chigi,  a  private  Roman,  gave 
to  the  world  good  editions  of  Pindar  and  Theocritus  in  1515  and 
1516  ;  and,  under  the  direction  of  Lascaris,  Leo  created  an  academy 
expressly  for  the  study  of  Greek,  in  which  a  press  was  established, 
where  the  sciolists  of  Homer  were  printed  in  151Y. 

As  an  Italian  prince,  and  as  a  Roman  pontiff,  Leo  X.  has  been 
accused  of  indulging  an  unprincipled  policy  and  vulgar  epicurism. 
It  is  aflSrmed  that  Ariosto  received  from  him  nothing  beyond  fair 
promises  and  a  kiss  ;  that  his  table  was  usually  crowded  with  base 
and  impudent  buffoons^  and  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  profane 


LITERATURE. 


255 


Petrarch's  laurel  and  the  Capitol  by  a  mock  coronation  of  his 
laughing-stocks,  Querno  and  Baraballo.  But,  as  a  contrast  to  these 
defects,  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  called  round  his  throne 
Bembo  and  Sadoleto,  and  fostered  innumerable  men  of  talent  with 
a  liberality  which  can  not  fail  to  elicit  the  praise  of  posterity.  If 
the  pope  hunted,  and  hawked,  and  caroused,  it  was  in  keeping  with 
the  universal  moral  indifference  in  the  East  and  South,  that  ominous 
calm  before  the  tempest  which  preceded  the  mighty  reformation  of 
every  thing  not  intrinsically  a  sham.  To  the  sagacious  historian  it 
is  not  strange  that  musical  retainers  were  magnificently  recom- 
pensed, one  made  an  archbishop,  and  another  archdeacon ;  and 
that  parasitical  poets  like  Berni  and  Molza,  were  rewarded  by  Leo, 
while  his  great  countryman,  Machiavelli,  was  treated  with  neglect. 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  during  the  fearful  crisis  when  all  the 
remoter  nations  of  Europe  stood  aghast  at  the  growing  influence  of 
Luther,  the  jocular  pontiff  and  his  secularized  ministers  found  genial 
amusement  in  witnessing  the  representation  of  farces  which  exposed 
the  hollow  mummeries  of  priestcraft. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  study  of  ancient 
hterature  was  uniformly  progressive  in  Germany,  France,  and  Eng- 
land ;  during  the  succeeding  fifty  years  much  greater  excellence  was 
attained.  Thanks  to  the  patronage  of  Francis  I.,  the  University  of 
Paris  at  this  time  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  philological  pursuits. 
In  England  the  cause  of  learning  was  greatly  promoted  at  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth  to  the  throne,  when  the  universities  began  to 
revive.  Not  only  was  good  Latin  often  heard  on  the  banks  of  the 
Isis  and  the  Cam,  but  the  sovereign  herself  and  her  erudite  professors 
could  address  each  other  in  classic  Greek.  From  ancient  poets, 
historians,  and  orators,  the  new  race  of  scholars  derived  the  princi- 
ples not  only  of  equal  justice,  but  of  equal  privileges,  and  learned 
to  reverence  free  republics,  to  abhor  tyranny,  and  sympathize  with 
a  Brutus  or  Timoleon.  The  Adages  of  Erasmus  created  almost 
mutinous  indignation  against  great  national  wrongs,  and  a  later 
period  witnessed  still  better  results  for  the  popular  good. 

The  effect  which  was  produced  by  the  mixture  of  the  two  great 
races  of  men,  the  southern  and  the  northern,  is  seen  in  the  epical 
writings  of  the  respective  "nations.  The  poem  of  the  Cid  was  to 
Spain  what  the  Divina  Comedia  was  to  Italy.    In  the  fifteenth 


256 


LEO  X. 


century  Portuguese  literature  arose,  and,  after  a  brief  but  beauftful 
career,  expired  in  the  swan-like  cry  of  the  Lusiad.  Torquato  Tasso, 
the  great  Italian  cotemporary,  published  his  Jerusalem  Delivered 
the  year  after  the  death  of  Camoens. 

To  the  other  famous  names  of  Lope  de  Vega  and  Calderon,  that 
of  Cervantes  will  ever  stand  associated  with  distinguished  honor  in 
the  annals  of  Spanish  literature.  He  was  born  in  1549.  While  yet 
young,  he  was  captured  by  a  Barbary  corsair,  and  remained  five 
years  and  a  half  in  slavery.  Maimed  and  friendless,  he  returned  to 
Spain,  and  in  1584,  began  to  publish  his  influential  works.  The 
leading  purpose  of  Cervantes  was  to  exhibit  the  abuse  of  the  books 
of  chivalry,  and  to  overwhelm  with  ridicule  those  romances  which 
are  the  creations  of  a  diseased  imagination,  in  which  attempt  he 
was  completely  successful.  The  romances  of  chivalry  ended  with 
Don  Quixote ;  and  this  was  appropriately  accomplished  at  the  time 
when,  and  in  the  place  where,  Columbus  was  fitted  by  Providence 
to  reveal  that  ISTew  World  which  had  been  kept  hid  until  the  time 
for  raising  the  curtain  of  a  sublimer  age.  At  least  one  author  was 
now  born  who  believed  that  "  a  titled  nobility  is  the  most  undis- 
puted progeny  of  barbarism,"  and  that  its  very  existence  proves  it 
to  be  inimical  to  all  the  interests  of  the  people.  The  badges  of  the 
former  are,  idleness,  vanity,  and  luxury ;  those  of  the  latter  are, 
labor,  pride,  and  necessity.  The  son  of  misfortune  and  wrong,  who 
had  been  ransomed  from  vassalage  at  the  expense  of  a  mother's 
life-toil  and  the  dowry  of  his  sisters,  was  the  fitting  instrument  to 
strike  the  knell  of  hereditary  feudalism,  and  confront  those  brazen 
lords  to  whom  alone  Cervantes  could  do  justice. 

What  Petrarch  began  in  Italy  during  the  fourteenth  century  was 
carried  on  by  the  fifteenth  with  unabated  activity.  The  recovery 
of  lost  classics  and  the  revival  of  philology  occupied  many  leading 
minds.  The  discovery  of  an  unknown  manuscript,  says  Tiraboschi, 
was  regarded  almost  as  the  conquest  of  a  kingdom.  Indeed,  so 
zealously  did  the  scholars  of  this  era  trim  the  lamp  of  ancient 
sepulchres,  that  they  in  a  measure  overlooked  the  splendor  of  their 
native  language.  But  a  keen  susceptibility  to  beauty  of  form,  with 
the  power  of  expressing  it,  was  manifested  to  an  extraordinary 
degree  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
centuries.    It  was  an  epoch  when  the  fortress  erected  by  a  baron, 


LITERATURE. 


257 


and  the  annotation  written  by  a  philologist  on  the  margin  of  his 
author,  were  alike  characterized  by  a  severe  and  chaste  beauty. 
Under  the  liberal  and  discriminating  patronage  of  Julius  11.  and 
Leo  X.,  a  vivid  appreciation  of  antique  literature,  philosophy,  and 
art,  became  an  absorbing  passion,  and  spread  in  all  directions. 
Referring  to  the  Guicciardini  and  Machiavelli  of  that  time,  Macaulay 
says :  "  To  collect  books  and  antiques,  to  found  professorships,  to 
patronize  men  of  learning,  became  almost  universal  fashions  among 
the  great.  The  spirit  of  hterary  research  aUied  itself  to  that  of 
commercial  enterprise ;  every  place  to  which  the  merchant  princes 
of  Florence  extended  their  gigantic  traffic,  from  the  bazaars  of  the 
Tigris  to  the  monasteries  of  the  Clyde,  was  ransacked  for  medals 
and  manuscripts."  A  new  blood  circulated  in  the  veins  of  Christian 
nations,  and  the  new  inventions  which  arose  created  murmurs  of 
revolutions,  and  foretokened  the  dawn  of  a  public  opinion.  The 
silent  subterranean  working  of  the  masses  engendered  the  marvel- 
ous changes  which  soon  transpired  over  the  whole  brightened  face 
of  humanity.  Whether  our  attention  is  fixed  on  the  political  or 
religious  history,  on  the  literary  progress,  the  jurisprudence,  or  the 
artistic  excellence  of  the  age,  no  century  is  loftier,  richer,  or  more 
instructive  for  modern  society  than  the  sixteenth,  none  more  ex- 
uberant with  life  and  ennobling  advancement.  All  that  has  since 
been  perfected  in  the  realm  of  literature  then  received  much  of  its 
primary  form  and  spirit. 

From  the  auspicious  hour  when  the  Nibelungen  became  the  Hiad 
of  the  North,  Germany  and  France  were  perpetually  progressive. 
Successive  developments  of  life  suffered  decay,  but  no  vital  princi- 
ple can  ever  be  annihilated ;  superannuated  forms  perish  inevitably, 
but  in  order  only  to  reproduce  a  higher  type  of  perpetuated  excel- 
lence. When  inferior  nations  and  tribes  disappear  after  having 
done  the  work  of  precursors,  a  more  useful  race  is  certain  imme- 
diately to  appear,  and  transmit  the  torch  of  divine  effulgence 
which,  in  the  subhme  career  appointed  to  be  run,  had  dropped,  by 
superseded  hands.  There  is  no  death  except  into  a  higher  life. 
The  last  language  formed  in  Europe  was  the  aggregated  wealth  of 
all  linguistic  treasures  before  accumulated,  and  is  destined  eventually 
to  control,  if  not  to  absorb  every  other.  All  medisevalism  blossomed 
for  the  West,  and  the  English  vernacular  was  its  maturest  fruit. 


258 


LEO  X. 


Like  the  great  and  distinct  periods  of  history  under  Pericles  and 
Augustus,  a  certain  adequate  and  cotemporaneous  expression  per- 
vaded the  whole  age  of  Leo  X.  Its  successive  steps  were  marked 
by  the  papal  domination  of  the  beginning  of  the  middle  ages; 
the  universal  feudal  system ;  the  period  of  universities  springing  up 
everywhere ;  the  periods  of  art ;  the  periods  of  Abelard  and  scho- 
lastic philosophy ;  the  rising  of  free  cities  all  over  Europe ;  the 
ardor  of  maiitime  discovery  and  enthusiasm  for  "  cosmography ;" 
the  period  of  monasteries  and  Protestantism.  Each  in  succession 
ruled  with  supreme  power,  so  long  as  it  possessed  the  chief  life. 
For  example,  at  the  needful  time,  feudalism  was  a  vital  organiza- 
tion; and  so  long  as  this  remained  genuine  and  spontaneous,  it 
was  the  true  and  living  expression  of  man's  necessities.  But  when 
the  feudal  system  was  transferred  from  the  field  to  the  court,  where 
the  pen  of  the  lawyer  supplanted  the  sword  of  the  knight,  and  a 
piece  of  parchment  became  more  powerful  than  warlike  pennons, 
the  life  of  feudalism  was  gone,  and  nothing  remained  but  a  clatter- 
ing skeleton  amid  its  dead  formalities.  Systems  die,  but  beneath 
their  surface  there  is  an  iramortahty  which  can  not  suffer  diminu- 
tion of  any  kind,  but  must  eternally  evolve.  Each  system  has  a 
separate  idea  to  exemplify,  and  the  grand  truth  inculcated  by  all 
these  successive  lessons  remains,  when  each  petty  teacher  has  dis- 
appeared. 

Let  us  briefly  recapitulate  the  historic  facts  connected  with  the 
last  and  best  of  literatures,  the  English.  The  Anglo-Saxons,  origin- 
ally the  fiercest  nation  of  the  predatory  North,  had-  become  an 
unwarlike  nation,  and  quite  degenerate.  The  venerated  relics  of 
their  civilization  existed,  but  the  soul  was  nearly  gone,  and  a  men- 
tal torpidity  pervaded  the  entire  country.  Canute  roused  the  peo- 
ple for  a  moment,  but  they  soon  sank  into  stolid  indifference  again. 
Then  was  needed  the  Norman  conquest  to  shake  the  whole  fabric 
to  its  base,  and  infuse  a  vigorous  spirit  through  all  classes  of  the 
community.  That  mightiest  people  beyond  the  channel  came  over 
at  exactly  the  right  time,  and  brought  all  the  best  continental 
elements  with  them.  The  influence  of  the  Norman  conquest  on 
the  language  of  England  has  been  compared  to  an  inundation, 
which  at  first  submerges  the  landscape  beneath  its  turbid  billows, 
but  which  at  last  subsiding,  leaves  behind  it  the  germs  of  fresh 


LITERATURE. 


259 


beauty  and  augmented  wealth.  The  ancestors  of  this  new  people 
had  been  fierce  pirates,  but  they  became  the  chief  revivers  of  litera- 
ture, and  the  grand  promoters  of  the  peaceful  arts.  It  is  a  notable 
fact,  that  Lanfranc,  their  prime  leader  in  this  noble  enterprise,  was 
a  Lombard,  and  that  his  people  had  been  the  most  barbarous  of  all 
the  Gothic  invaders.  Yet  among  them  literary  studies  were  first 
revived  in  Italy,  the  most  celebrated  schools  were  established,  and 
the  most  enterprising  citizens  were  formed  into  the  most  cultivated 
states.  From  them,  and  their  cities,  Pisa  and  Pavia,  learning  was 
planted,  under  Charlemagne,  in  France,  and  replanted  both  there 
and  in  England,  under  Lanfranc,  once  an  obscure  schoolmaster  at 
Bee,  in  Normandy,  and  after  the  conquest  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

The  seeds  of  knowledge,  thus  timely  sown,  yielded  in  due  time 
an  abundant  harvest.  Literary  pursuits  soon  became  a  source  of 
distinction  and  preferment.  All  ranks  caught  the  flame ;  and  on 
the  diffusion  of  vernacular  letters,  intelligence  no  longer  dwelt 
within  the  cells  of  a  cloister  or  the  walls  of  a  school,  but  adorned 
the  chamber  of  the  lady,  the  hall  of  the  baron,  and  the  court  of  the 
prince.  Intelligence  glorified  the  warrior's  iron  mail  and  trophied 
lance  abroad ;  while  at  home,  domestic  solicitudes  were  assuaged, 
and  gentle  virtues  ennobled,  by  the  laudable  ambition  to  learn  both  ■ 
to  read  and  write.  After  the  twelfth  century  in  England,  ignorance 
became  discreditable,  the  mark  of  a  barbarous  origin  and  a  degrad- 
ed taste.  Itinerant  minstrels  had  for  a  long  time  been  the  instru- 
ments of  poetry,  but  the  offices  of  composer  and  musician  were  now 
separated.  Special  attention  was  given  to  that  form  of  literature, 
so  popular  in  the  streets  and  at  the  festival,  in  the  study,  and  in  the 
cloister,  while  its  measured  syllables  were  made  the  vehicle  of  bet- 
ter strains  than  those  which  exhilarated  at  the  banquet  or  corrupted 
the  populace.  As  we  have  above  stated,  the  English  language  was 
of  the  latest  formation,  and  was  partially  developed  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  through  some  metrical  poems.  Henry  II.,  who  was 
himself  a  great  proficient  in  history,  encouraged  and  rewarded  its 
popular  writers,  who  were  also  fostered  by  his  queen  Eleanora,  a 
troubadour  by  birth.  At  the  accession  of  Henry  lU.,  still  brighter 
rays  beamed  forth  upon  the  western  isle.  His  reign  connected 
England  with  Jerusalem,  whither  the  crusading  armies  still  went ; 
with  Constantinople,  whose  exiled  emperor  sought  his  support ; 


260 


LEO  X. 


with  tlie  soutli  of  Italy,  by  the  intercourse  of  himself  and  his  clergy 
with  the  pope,  and  by  the  crowds  of  emigrants  whom  the  pontiff 
poured  upon  British  soil ;  with  the  north  of  Italy,  where  he  sent 
knights  to  assist  the  emperor  against  Milan ;  with  Armenia,  whose 
friars  came  for  a  refuge  from  the  Tartars ;  with  Germany,  whose 
emperor  married  his  sister ;  with  Provence  and  Savoy,  from  which 
both  he  and  his  brother  had  their  wives ;  with  Spain,  where  his  son 
was  knighted  and  wedded;  with  France,  which  he  visited  with 
much  pomp;  with  its  southern  regions,  Guienne  and  Poitou, 
which  he  retained ;  and  with  the  countries  on  the  Rhine,  where  his 
brother  went  to  obtain  the  empire. 

No  language  can  better  express  the  facts  of  the  case  in  point, 
than  the  following  review  by  Macaulay :  "  The  history  of  England 
is  emphatically  the  history  of  progress.  It  is  the  history  of  a  con- 
stant movement  of  the  public  mind,  which  produced  a  constant 
change  in  the  institutions  of  a  great  society.  We  see  that  society, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  in  a  state  more  miserable 
than  the  state  in  which  the  most  degraded  nations  of  the  East  now 
are.  We  see  it  subjected  to  the  tyranny  of  a  handful  of  armed  for- 
eigners. We  see  a  strong  distinction  of  caste,  separating  the  vic- 
torious Norman  from  the  vanquished  Saxon.  We  see  the  great 
body  of  the  population  in  a  state  of  personal  slavery.  We  see  the 
most  debasing  and  cruel  superstition  exercising  boundless  dominion 
over  the  most  elevated  and  benevolent  minds.  We  see  the  multi- 
tude sunk  in  brutal  ignorance,  and  the  studious  few  engaged  in  ac- 
quiring what  did  deserve  the  name  of  knowledge.  In  the  course 
of  seven  centuries  this  wretched  and  degraded  race  have  become  the 
greatest  and  most  highly  civilized  people  that  ever  the  world  saw ; 
have  spread  their  dominion  over  every  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  have 
scattered  the  seeds  of  mighty  empires  and  republics  over  vast  con- 
tinents of  which  no  dim  intimation  had  ever  reached  Ptolemy  or 
Strabo ;  have  created  a  maritime  power  which  would  annihilate, 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  navies  of  Tyre,  Athens,  Carthage, 
Venice,  and  Genoa,  together ;  have  carried  the  science  of  healing, 
the  means  of  locomotion,  and  correspondence,  every  mechanical 
art,  every  manufacture,  every  thing  that  promotes  the  convenience 
of  Hfe,  to  a  perfection  which  our  ancestors  would  have  thought 
magical ;  have  produced  a  literature  abounding  with  works  not  in- 


LITERATURE. 


261 


ferior  to  the  noblest  which  Greece  has  bequeathed  to  us ;  have  dis- 
covered the  laws  which  regulate  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies ; 
have  speculated  with  exquisite  subtlety  on  the  operations  of  the 
human  mind ;  have  been  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  the  human 
race  in  the  career  of  human  improvement." 

The  period  so  eloquently  sketched  in  the  above  extract  extends 
from  the  culminating  point  whence  high  civilization,  in  the  age  of 
Leo  X.,  descended  on  the  western  edge  of  Europe,  and  passed  the 
broad  Atlantic,  to  pour  all  its  accumulated  beams  into  the  auspicious 
orient  of  a  New  World.  As  it  respects  moral  force,  and  originality 
of  genius,  neither  the  age  of  Pericles,  nor  that  of  Augustus,  could 
be  compared  with  the  evening  glories  of  that  age  which  was 
adorned  by  such  names  as  Chaucer  and  Spenser,  Sidney  and  Ral- 
eigh, Bacon  and  Milton.  These  and  many  others  possessed  not 
merely  great  talents  and  accomplishments,  but  vast  compass  and 
reach  of  understanding,  minds  truly  creative  and  original.  They 
made  great  and  substantial  additions  to  the  treasures  of  general 
knowledge,  and  fortified  human  faculties,  while  tbey  augmented 
the  facilities  for  human  happiness  to  an  unparalleled  extent. 
Geoffrey  Chaucer,  born  in  1328,  was  coeval  with  Wickliffe,  with 
whom  it  has  been  said  that  he  studied  at  Oxford.  He  saw  the 
reigns  of  three  British  kings,  had  conversed  with  Petrarch  at  Padua, 
was  a  shining  light  through  a  protracted  life,  and  died  in  the  first 
year  of  the  fifteenth  century,  "  the  father  of  English  poetry." 

At  a  later  and  much  brighter  epoch,  Edmund  Spenser,  born  1553, 
shone  without  a  rival.  Much  of  his  language  has  become  anti- 
quated, but  is  yet  beautiful  in  its  quaintness,  and,  like  the  moss  and 
festooned  ivy  on  some  dilapidated  castle,  covers  his  antique  phrases 
with  romantic  and  venerable  associations.  Schlegel  regarded  the 
chivalrous  poem  of  Spenser,  the  Fairy  Queen,  as  presenting  the 
completest  view  of  the  spirit  of  romance  which  yet  lingered  in 
England  among  the  subjects  of  Elizabeth.  He  undoubtedly  was  a 
perfect  master  of  the  picturesque,  and  in  his  lyrics  breathed  the 
tenderness  of  the  Italian  Idyll,  redolent  of  all  the  perfume  of  the 
Troubadours.  Chaucer  was  more  like  the  German  poets  of  the 
sixteenth  centuiy ;  but  Spenser  seemed  to  have  imbibed  at  earlier 
fountains  of  inspiration,  and  gave  a  final  expression  to  the  tender 
and  melodious  poesy  of  the  olden  time. 


262 


LEO  X. 


John  Milton,  born  1608,  leaned  more  to  the  opposite  ideal  of  his 
native  language,  and  beyond  the  power  of  any  other  writer  expressed 
the  full  majesty  of  the  old  classic  element.  Spenser  was  charmingly 
Teutonic ;  but  Milton  was  more  at  home  in  the  Latin  part  of  his 
mighty  vernacular.  While  each  of  this  glorious  trio  spoke  in  a 
dialect  peculiar  to  himself,  they  all  alike  were  intense  and  devoted 
lovers  of  nature.  Chaucer  sparkles  with  the  dew  of  morning. 
Spenser  lies  bathed  in  the  sylvan  shade.  Milton  glows  with  orient 
light.  One  might  almost  fancy  that  he  had  gazed  himself  blind, 
and  had  then  been  raised  to  the  sky,  and  there  stood  and  waited,  like 
"  blind  Orion  hungering  for  the  morn."  So  abundantly  had  he 
stored  his  mind  with  visions  of  natural  beauty,  that,  when  all  with- 
out became  dark,  he  was  still  most  rich  in  his  inward  treasure,  and 
"ceased  not  to  wander  where  the  muses  haunt  clear  spring,  or 
shady  grove,  or  sunny  hill." 

We  have  reserved  another  name,  the  greatest  of  them  all,  for  t^ie 
concluding  item  in  this  comprehensive  sketch  of  literature  during 
the  age  of  Leo  X.  The  position  of  the  notice  we  give  him  is  ap- 
propriate, since  he  garnered  all  anterior  wisdom  and  genius  into 
himself,  to  be  bodied  forth  in  diversified  forms  of  consummate 
worth.  William  Shakspeare  was  born  in  1564,  twelve  years  after 
Walter  Raleigh,  and  thirty-five  before  Oliver  Cromwell.  He  was 
twenty-four  years  old  when  the  first  newspaper  was  published,  and 
should  be  regarded  as  the  truest  exponent  of  the  romantic  cycle  he 
came  fully  to  comprehend,  exhaust,  and  terminate. 

In  a  much  higher  sense  than  Francis  Bacon,  William  Shakspeare 
was  the  historian  of  humanity,  and  great  prophet  of  human  prog- 
ress. Bunsen  regards  his  "  Histories"  as  the  only  modern  epos, 
in  its  true  sense,  a  poetical  relation  to  the  eternal  order  manifested 
in  national  developments.  They  are  the  Romanic  "  Divina  Coni- 
media,"  the  Spanish  "  Cid,"  and  the  Germanic  "  Nibelungen"  united 
and  dramatized.  A  new  and  sublimer  act  was  about  to  open  on 
the  vast  stage  of  Providence,  and  dramatic  literature  was  the  fitting 
organ  of  the  epos  in  an  age  teeming  with  energetic  life,  and  ripe  for 
the  sublimest  realities.  The  "  myriad-minded"  artist  appeared  in 
his  serene  sphere,  to  show  how  society,  as  it  moves  under  divine 
guidance,  illustrates  moral  truths  more  accurately,  completely,  and 
strikingly,  than  any  dissertation  could  reveal  it.    In  his  portrait- 


LITERATURE. 


263 


ures  it  is  difficult  to  decide  which  is  more  remarkable,  the  fidelity 
of  abstract  ideas  to  nature,  or  the  vivid  imaginativeness  of  concep- 
tion by  which  the  highest  truth  is  announced.  Living  greatness 
and  intellectual  power  coalesce  in  both  imaginary  characters  and 
actual  scenes,  as  the  consummate  style  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  or 
Michael  Angelo  resulted  from  the  blending  of  spiritual  feeling  with 
natural  forms.  He  stood  like  a  magician  above  the  world,  pene- 
trating at  a  glance  the  profoundest  depths,  mysteries,  and  perplexi- 
ties of  human  nature,  and  having  power  at  will  to  summon  into 
open  day  all  the  foulest  as  well  as  fairest  working  of  human  pas- 
sion. With  masterly  sagacity,  he  used  the  whole  world  of  man, 
past,  present,  and  to  come,  instinctively  anticipating  what  he 
was  not  permitted  actually  to  behold.  Some  have  daringly  inti- 
mated that  Shakspeare,  like  Dante,  was  a  sohtary  comet  which, 
having  traversed  the  constellation  of  the  ancient  firmament,  returns 
to  the  feet  of  the  Deity,  and  says  to  him  like  the  thunder,  "Here 
am  I."  Not  so.  Dante  appeared  in  an  age  of  darkness,  compara- 
tively. The  compass  had  then  scarcely  enabled  the  mariner  to 
steer  through  the  familiar  expanse  of  the  Mediterranean.  America 
and  the  passage  to  India  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  were  yet  undis- 
covered. The  feudal  system  still  pressed  with  all  the  weight  of  its 
darkness  upon  enslaved  Europe.  The  inventor  of  gunpowder  had 
not  changed  the  whole  system  of  war,  nor  had  the  introduction  of 
printing  created  a  complete  metamorphosis  in  society  at'  large.  But 
when  in  western  England  the  mother  of  Shakspeare  gave  birth  to 
her  obscure  son,  the  age  of  regeneration  and  reformation  had  al- 
ready dawned,  that  age  in  which  the  principal  discoveries  of  mod- 
ern times  were  accomplished,  the  true  system  of  the  universe 
ascertained,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  explored,  the  sciences  culti- 
vated, and  the  practical  arts  carried  to  a  pitch  of  perfection  which 
they  had  never  before  attained.  Great  deeds  were  done,  and  great 
men  constituted  colonies  which  repaired  to  the  woods  of  New 
England  to  sow  the  seeds  of  a  fertile  independence,  and  establish 
the  empire  of  universal  amelioration. 

All  nature  ministers  to  Shakspeare,  as  gladly  as  a  mother  to  her 
child,  while  he  "glances  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  earth  to 
heaven."  Whether  he  wishes  to  depict  Romeo's  love,  or  Hamlet's 
philosophy,  or  Miranda's  innocence,  or  Perdita's  simplicity,  or  Rosa- 


264 


LEO  X. 


lind's  playfulness,  or  the  sports  of  the  Fairies,  or  Timon's  misan- 
thropy, or  Macbeth's  desolating  ambition,  or  Lear's  heart-rending 
frenzy — ^he  has  only  to  ask,  and  she  vouchsafes  every  feeling  and 
every  passion  with  which  he  desires  to  actuate  and  invest  his  inim- 
itable creations. 

For  six  centuries,  millions  of  readers,  in  and  out  of  the  church, 
had  fed  on  religious  romance,  which  had  continually  depreciated  in 
merit,  when  John  Bunyan  was  born,  1628,  to  gather  up  every  rem- 
nant of  excellence  which  had  ever  been  expressed  under  that  type ; 
and  having  re-issued  the  essence  of  it  all  most  divinely  refined,  he 
terminated  legendary  literature  forever.  With  the  same  providen- 
tial intent,  in  the  same  year  that  Michael  Angelo  died,  William 
Shakspeare  was  born,  and  having  perfected  to  the  last  degree  every 
element  which  had  accumulated  during  the  lapsing  of  thirty  centu- 
ries, romantic  literature  ended  with  the  closing  pf  his  grave.  Mid- 
way between  Shakspeare  and  Bunyan,  Milton  lost  his  eyes ;  and 
Poetry,  Freedom,  and  Religion,  at  the  same  time  lost  theirs  for  a 
season.  But,  behold !  The  splendors  which  fade  along  the  west- 
ern sky  of  the  old  world  already  foretoken  the  rising  of  a  brighter 
day  over  the  new. 


I 


CHAPTER  II. 

AKT. 

In  reviewing  the  various  realms  of  art  in  tlie  age  of  Leo  X.,  we 
shall  first  consider  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  architecture  pecu- 
liar to  that  great  stage  of  human  development,  and  then  proceed  to 
notice  briefly  the  sculpture,  painting,  and  other  correlative  produc- 
tions. The  sources  of  illustration  are  so  numerous,  and  the  mate- 
rial so  abundant,  it  will  be  necessary  to  observe  comprehensiveness 
as  far  as  possible  in  the  exploration  of  each  department. 

The  facts  of  history  require  us  to  resume  the  consideration  of 
debased  Roman  art  at  its  nadir  of  utter  degradation  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, and  thence  to  follow  it  as  it  arises  with  a  new  life,  transformed 
into  two  original  types,  Gothic  and  Byzantine,  till  both  blended  in 
the  Christian  architecture  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  this  in 
turn  perished  before  the  rising  influence  of  the  Renaissance.  The 
old  Romanesque  prevailed  from  the  time  of  Constantine  to  that  of 
Justinian,  and  always  remained  the  molding  influence  in  Teutonic 
art.  The  Byzantine  style  absorbed  into  itself  oriental  lightness  and 
beauty,  traversed  the  whole  domain  of  superannuated  civilization  in 
the  East,  and,  with  all  its  modifying  charms,  in  due  time  coalesced 
with  the  more  rugged  and  progressive  element  in  the  far  West. 

Justinian  ascended  the  throne  of  the  East,  in  527.  By  him  the 
celebrated  architect  Anthemius  was  invited  to  Constantinople,  and 
Saint  Sophia  was  built.  This  famous  church  was  so  splendid  that 
the  emperor  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  on  its  completion  :  "  Glory 
be  to  God,  who  hath  thought  me  worthy  to  accomplish  so  great  a 
work.  I  have  vanquished  thee,  O  Solomon."  Then  an  aerial 
cupola  was  first  erected,  a  model  of  bold  design  and  skillful  execu- 
tion. This  was  the  third  edifice  on  the  same  spot  since  the 
original  by  Constantine,  and  combined  all  the  skill,  taste,  and  munifi- 

12 


266 


LEO  X. 


ceuce  of  the  age.  Its  columns  of  granite,  porphyry,  and  green 
marble,  its  semi-domes  and  walls  incrusted  with  precious  stones,  its 
various  members,  admirable  by  their  size  and  beauty,  and  all  em- 
bellished with  a  rich-  profusion  of  jaspers,  gems,  and  costly  metals, 
furnished  a  rich  repast  to  the  curiosity  of  travelers,  and  was  a 
magnificent  monument  of  metropolitan  pride.  Simultaneous  with 
the  creation  of  the  Byzantine  type,  arose  the  well-defined  Eoman- 
esque  at  Kavenna,  the  seat  of  the  Greek  Exarchate.  Unlike  the  old 
capital  of  the  world,  whicli  she  now  came  to  rival  in  importance, 
Ravenna  possessed  no  ruined  temples  whose  spoils  could  be  used 
in  constructing  new  buildings.  Being  obliged  to  think  for  them- 
selves and  design  every  detail,  the  architects  introduced  a  degree 
of  originality  of  conception  and  harmony  of  proportions  into  their 
plans  and  elevations  utterly  unknown  in  the  Roman  examples. 
Theodoric  had  been  educated  at  Constantinople,  and  was  far  from 
being  insensible  to  the  national  advantages  derived  from  science 
and  art.  Great  care  was  bestowed  on  architecture  and  sculp- 
ture, so  that  under  this  royal  patron  all  the  Italian  cities  acquired 
the  useful  or  splendid  decorations  of  churches,  aqueducts,  baths, 
and  palaces.  The  death  of  Theodoric  occurred  in  526.  His  mau- 
soleum, now  called  Santa  Maria  della  Rotunda,  as  well  as  the 
cotemporaneous  church  of  Santa  Apollinaris,  still  in  existence  at 
Ravenna,  attest  an  immense  stride  in  advance  of  the  old  Roman 
style.  It  was  upon  these  constructions  that  the  peculiar  external 
decoration  was  first  applied  which  became  so  remarkably  developed 
in  its  westward  course. 

Justinian  united  the  whole  of  Italy  to  his  dominions  in  553,  and 
Ravenna  thenceforth  became  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  Greeks. 
The  new  basilicas  with  which  the  city  was  speedily  adorned  introduced 
the  cupola,  and  employed  the  block  capitals  which  had  been  invented 
at  Constantinople,  ornamented  with  foliage  in  low  rehef,  in  imitation 
of  basket  work.  But  before  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  the  Lom- 
bards came  into  supreme  power,  and  still  more  marked  improve- 
ment supervened  in  monumental  art.  As  the  pious  entreaties  of 
his  Athenian  bride  had  long  before  induced  Honorius  to  exert  him- 
self in  behalf  of  sacred  works,  and  the  daughter  of  Theodosius, 
Galla  Placidia,  a  princess  greatly  aflflicted,  found  consolation  in 
decorating  Ravenna  with  Christian  temples ;  so  Theodolinda, 


ART. 


267 


daughter  of  Garibaldus,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  wife  of  Agilulfus, 
the  fourth  Lombard  king,  persuaded  her  husband  to  abjure  his 
Arian  heresies,  and  to  protect  the  arts.  Churches  and  palaces  were 
multiphed,  especially  in  Pavia,  which  the  Lombard  kings  chose  for 
their  usual  abode.  The  seventh  century,  and  a  part  of  the  eighth, 
was  a  period  of  comparative  tranquillity,  and,  under  the  auspices  of 
this  new  and  active  race,  the  architecture  of  Italy  was  greatly  im- 
proved. The  Lombards  imported  no  architects  from  the  North,  but 
availed  themselves  of  the  men  and  means  furnished  by  the  con- 
quered country,  still  retaining  the  Romanesque  form,  but  investing 
it  internally  and  externally  with  a  profusion  of  characteristic  orna- 
ment. Until  the  seventh  century  Christian  symbols  were  admitted 
into  the  churches  with  a  sparing  hand,  but  now  the  greatest  license 
seems  to  have  been  given  to  ornamentation  of  every  sort.  Not 
only  does  architecture,  more  than  all  other  material  things,  co- 
operate in  manifesting  the  fulfillment  of  those  sacred  prophecies,  in 
the  deep  truth  of  which  is  rooted  the  ever-thriving  tree  of  salvation, 
but  it  also  bears  the  clearest  trace  of  national  character  and  pur- 
suits. The  Lombards  were  great  hunters,  and  along  their  wide 
fagades  and  around  their  soaring  porticoes  they  built  with  construct- 
ive sculpture  all  the  wild  energy  of  the  daring  and  tumultuous 
chase.  As  a  compendious  abstract  of  the  picturesque  in  outline,  the 
impressive  in  substance,  and  the  exciting  in  association,  architecture 
exercises  the  magic  of  romance,  where  she  emulates  the  majesty  of 
nature,  and  portrays  her  myriad  forms ;  when  she  unites  the  regu- 
lated precisions  of  human  design,  with  the  bold  irregularities  of 
divine  creation  ;  or  when  she  presents  us  the  hoafy  reminiscences  of 
past  heroes,  whose  deeds  of  good  and  ill  gave  radiant  light  or 
melancholy  shadow  to  the  times  in  which  they  lived.  No  thought- 
ful spirit  can  unmov^ed  revert  to  those  sons  of  barbarians  who,  as 
the  triumphs  of  supreme  art,  caused  the  castle  and  cathedral  to 
surmount  the  natural  Goliah,  in  defiance  of  the  giant  mountain ; 
when  the  huge  walls,  mellowed  by  time,  even  to  the  very  tint  of 
the  majestic  rock  on  which  they  stand,  seem  of  that  rock  a  part, 
whence  lofty  towers,  festooned  by  the  ivy  "  garland  of  eternity," 
look  down  upon  prosperous  towns  as  they  gleam  from  afar  amid 
patriarchal  oaks. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eighth  century,  the  hopes  began 


268 


LEO  X. 


to  show  much  solicitude  in  behalf  of  the  arts.  In  that  age  they 
gained  great  temporal  advantages,  and  their  revenues  enabled  them 
to  do  immense  good  for  Italy.  But  the  era  of  Charlemagne,  which 
opened  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  and  continued  into 
the  ninth,  was  one  in  which  a  greater  number  of  grand  edifices 
were  dedicated  to  Christianity.  Rising  to  extensive  dominion,  this 
extraordinaiy  man  did  much  to  restore  the  arts  and  promote  the 
cause  of  universal  civilization.  Meanwhile  the  decrepit  empire  of 
the  East  was  becoming  too  feeble  to  employ  her  architects  and 
artisans,  so  that  when  the  auxiliary  help  was  needed  it  was  thence 
derived  to  plan  and  execute  the  supreme  seat  of  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical power  beyond  the  Alps.  At  Aix-la-Chapelle  a  new  form  of 
art  arose,  to  which  the  general  name  of  Gothic  may  be  correctly 
applied,  meaning  thereby  all  the  styles  which  were  introduced  by 
those  Teutonic  tribes  of  barbarians  who  overwhelmed  the  Roman 
empire,  and  established  themselves  within  its  boundaries.  Exactly 
in  the  ratio  this  barbarian  element  prevailed  along  the  course  of 
its  westward  development,  architecture  flourished  in  originality  and 
beauty,  the  aggregated  worth  of  which  was  always  found  at  the 
point  remotest  from  its  source.  All  the  western  styles  were  derived 
from  Roman  art,  but  before  the  tenth  century  the  originals  had 
been  forgotten,  and  a  new  type  appeared  wholly  independent  of  the 
old  one.  The  forms  of  the  pillars,  of  the  piers,  and  the  arches  they 
support,  are  different  as  created  by  Gothic  genius.  The  whole 
edifice  is  roofed  with  intersecting  vaults,  which  have  become  an 
integral  part  of  the  inner  design,  while  buttresses  afford  firm  sup- 
port outside. 

But  we  must  trace  the  derivation  of  a  new  element  which  is  com- 
bined with  the  Lombard  type  in  the  wilds  of  Germany.  In  the 
ninth  century,  on  the  designs  of  a  Greek  artist,  rose  the  cathedral 
of  Saint  Mark,  at  Venice,  the  largest  Byzantine  church  in  Italy. 
Saint  Anthony  of  Padua  bore  this  eastern  element  still  nearer  its 
destined  goal,  and  at  Pisa  it  was  absorbed  into  the  older  and 
mightier  element ;  but  the  perfect  manner  of  amalgamation  did  not 
obliterate  either  of  the  original  components.  The  cathedral  at  Pisa, 
whose  architect  was  Buschetto,  a  Greek,  was  built  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century,  and  was  completely  differenced  from  the 
previous  basilicas  by  the  addition  of  transepts,  thus  assuming  the 


ART. 


269 


form  of  a  Latin  cross.  Just  half  a  century  earlier,  the  beautiful 
church  of  Saint  Miniato,  near  Florence,  had  presented  the  first 
coupled  piers,  and  "made  the  first  timid  attempt  at  vaulting  the 
nave.  But  the  Pisan  progress  went  much  further,  by  boldly  ex- 
tending the  Ravenna  apse  into  a  spacious  choir  beyond  the  transepts, 
■with  well-defined  triforium  galleries  over  the  pier  arches.  These 
are  all  striking  approximations  toward  consummate  art,  but  we 
still  have  a  five-aisled  basilica  with  the  aisles  vaulted,  and  a  flat 
wooden  roof  covering  the  nave.  The  most  observable  feature 
of  the  exterior  is  the  extravagant  display  of  columns  and  other 
members  not  essential  to  the  construction.  Arcades  rise  over 
arcades,  and  orders  succeed  to  orders  almost  without  end.  All 
which  in  the  temples  of  Athens  had  been  rectangular  and  sym- 
metrical, in  the  Byzantine  churches,  and  all  under  their  influence, 
became  curved,  dwarfed,  and  rounded ;  so  that,  after  the  Romans 
had  deprived  the  Greek  architecture  of  its  consistency,  the  Christian 
Greeks  themselves  obliterated  every  trace  of  excellence  yet  spared 
by  the  Romans,  and  made  the  architecture  of  their  heathen  ances- 
tors owe  its  final  annihilation  to  the  same  nation  to  whom  it  had 
been  indebted  for  its  glorious  growth. 

But  that  nothing  should  be  lost  to  western  art,  the  Byzantine 
Romanesque  was  made  to  sweep  most  widely  over  the  old  world, 
and  enter  Europe  at  the  remotest  point.  "  On  the  wings  of  Mo- 
tammed's  spreading  creed,"  says  Hope,  "  wafted  from  land  to  land 
by  the  boundless  conquest  of  his  followers,  the  architecture  of  Con- 
stantinople, extending  one  way  to  the  furthest  extremities  of  India, 
and  the  other  to  the  utmost  outskirts  of  Spain,  prevailed  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  regions  intervening  between  the  Ganges  and  the 
Guadalquiver ;  in  every  one  of  the  different  tracks  into  which  it 
was  imported,  still  equally  different  from  the  aborigines,  or  early 
possessors.  Thus,  while  in  none  of  the  various  and  distant  coun- 
tries, we  observe  previous  to  the  adoption  of  Islamism  the  slightest 
approach  to  those  inventions,  the  pride  and  the  stay  of  architecture 
— ^the  arch  and  the  cupola ;  in  all  of  them  alike,  on  the  very  first 
settling  in  them  of  the  Mohammedans,  we  see  these  noble  features 
immediately  appearing,  from  the  application  of  Greek  skill,  in  the 
full  maturity  of  form  they  had  attained  among  themselves." 

Leaving  the  Saracenic  Romanesque  to  return  by  Sicily  and  Spain 


270 


LEO  X. 


into  southern  France,  and  thence  to  ascend  the  height  of  mediaeval 
cuhnination,  let  us  proceed  in  the  grand  central  track  of  Teutonic  art. 

The  Rhine  is  the  great  channel  of  modern  civilization,  and  near 
its  banks  are  the  clearest  indications  of  progressive  art.  The  origi- 
nal cathedral  at  Treves  was  built  by  the  pious  mother  of  Constan- 
tine,  and  seems,  like  the  cotemporary  church  at  Jerusalem,  to  have 
consisted  of  two  distinct  edifices,  one  circular,  the  other  square. 
These  two  forms  entered  into  diversified  combinations  thenceforth, 
and  ever  constituted  the  peculiarity  of  German  architecture.  The 
tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  afford  many  curious  specimens  which 
are  important  in  the  history  of  art.  Such  are  the  cathedrals  of 
Spire,  Worms,  Mayence,  and  others  yet  extant,  and  which  attest 
extraordinary  solidity  and  magnificence.  The  western  apse  of  the 
cathedral  at  Mayence  is  perhaps  the  only  example  in  Germany 
where  a  triapsal  arrangement  has  been  attempted  with  polygonal 
instead  of  circular  forms.  Surely  a  new  type  of  art  is  near.  At 
this  point,  too,  we  have  witnessed  enough  of  progressive  spire- 
growth  in  Germany  to  believe  that  the  origin  of  that  aspiring  member 
lies  amid  the  towers  which  cluster  so  copiously  on  the  churches  by 
the  Rhine,  and  especially  the  beautiful  group  of  indigenous  art  at 
Cologne. 

The  Norman  Romanesque  was  produced  in  no  one  instance  be- 
fore the  year  1050,  and  before  1150  it  was  entirely  superseded. 
Indeed,  all  the  great  typical  examples  were  executed  during  the 
last  half  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  arrangements  of  these  are 
more  like  the  Rhenish  basihcas  than  any  others,  and  yet  do  they 
differ  from  them  by  many  degrees  of  superiority.  They  formed 
the  last  stage  in  the  progress  toward  consummate  invention ;  and 
the  western  fagade  of  Saint  Stephens,  at  Caen,  for  example,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  protot3rpe  of  all  the  Gothic  cathedrals  which 
immediately  succeeded.  All  this  was  produced  in  the  fitting  order 
of  time  and  place.  For  eight  centuries  the  Northmen  continued  to 
press  toward  lower  latitudes,  everywhere  disseminating  their  hardy 
habits,  pure  ethics,  deep  sentiments  of  freedom,  and  superior  im- 
press of  art.  Lombards  redeemed  Italy,  Goths  ennobled  Spain, 
Franks  cultivated  Gaul,  and,  at  the  needful  moment,  William  the 
Conqueror  was  made  ready  to  transfer  all  the  glorious  accumulation 
of  civiUzing  elements  to  Saxon  England. 


ART. 


271 


Ecclesiastical  architecture  especially  reflected  one  pervading 
dominant  sentiment  of  the  Norman  mind — perpetuity.  They  ex- 
celled all  nations  in  the  use  and  ornamentation  of  the  circular  arch. 
Centuries  before  Christ  this  had  existed,  and  was  by  the  dull  Ro- 
man subordinated  to  mechanical  necessities,  when  he  would  support 
his  stupendous  works ;  but  hitherto  it  had  been  applied  to  base 
purposes  only.  That  line  which  the  sun  and  stars  trace  in  their 
course,  the  holy  shape  of  the  majestic  vault  of  heaven,  the  Teuton 
found  debased  to  ignoble  purposes,  and,  rescuing  it  from  the  fosse, 
the  aqueduct,  and  the  sudarium,  he  bent  it  in  consecrated  granite 
above  his  reverent  head,  a  copy  of  the  arch  under  which  his  fathers 
prayed — the  sky.  And  this  rugged  Christian  art  which,  with  the 
brain  and  heart  of  grand  Norman  prelates,  passes  into  England,  is 
the  introduction  of  a  new  principle  altogether  from  the  florid  By- 
zantine element  at  the  same  time  approaching  from  the  opposite 
point.  The  one  is  the  product  of  a  mind  whose  dominant  faculties 
were  reason  and  faith  ;  the  other  projected  by  a  fervid  imagination, 
bearing  in  its  shape  internal  evidence  of  its  birthplace,  the  South ; 
beautiful  indeed,  but  earthly  in  its  beauty,  and  in  the  effect  it  pro- 
duces on  the  soul,  according  well  with  the  dreamy  habits  of  the 
Saracen,  but  inappropriate  for  the  uses  of  that  religion  which 
casteth  down  imaginations." 

Thus  Lombardy,  Germany,  and  Normandy,  took  great  successive 
strides  in  architectural  progress,  but  neither  of  them  attained  to 
Gothic  art  of  the  true  Christian  type,  according  to  the  popular 
designation.  There  can  now  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  Pointed 
style  was  invented  by  the  Franks.  As  on  the  western  edge  of  con- 
tinental Europe  Romanesque  architecture  was  perfected,  and  then 
directly  passed  to  England ;  so  in  western  France,  the  aspiring 
Gothic  broke  into  consummate  freedom  and  beauty,  and  was  thence 
diffused  over  the  world.  It  was  introduced  inta  Germany,  Italy, 
and  the  remoter  regions,  north  and  south,  with  innumerable  modi- 
fications, but  without  a  single  improvement  east  of  the  meridian  of 
its  origin.  On  the  contrary,  in  passing  directly  westward  over  the 
narrow  field  of  England,  it  took  three  distinct  forms  of  improved 
development,  and  then  perished  forever, 

Down  to  a  late  period,  the  round  Gothic  style  was  executed  by 
the  Franks,  in  examples  quite  insignificant  compared  with  those 


272 


LEO  X. 


produced  in  Normandy.  Even  in  Paris  the  great  church  of  St. 
Germain  des  Pres,  the  burial-place  of  the  earher  kings,  and  most 
splendid  edifice  of  the  capital,  was  not  more  than  fifty  feet  in  width, 
by  two  hundred  in  length,  before  the  rebuilding  of  its  chevet  in  the 
pointed  style.  But  in  the  reign  of  Louis  le  Gros,  1108-1136,  un- 
der whom  the  monarchy  of  France  began  to  revive,  architecture  put 
on  new  vigor.  The  culminating  point  was  reached  under  the  reign 
of  Louis  le  Jeune,  and  through  the  transcendent  abilities  of  the  Abbe 
Suger.  He  began  building  the  Abbey  of  St.  Denis  in  the  pointed 
manner,  1144,  which  was  still  further  elaborated  with  the  erection 
of  the  Sante  Chapelle  by  St.  Louis,  1244,  and  which  received  its  con- 
summate finish  at  the  completion  of  the  choir  of  St.  Owen  at  Rouen, 
by  Mark  d' Argent,  in  1339.  St.  Denis,  therefore,  though  certainly 
not  the  earhest,  must  be  taken  as  the  typical  example  of  primary 
Gothic  of  France  and  of  the  world.  It  terminated  the  era  of 
transition,  and  fixed  the  epoch  when  the  northern  pointed  style 
became  supreme.  In  due  course  arose  the  beautiful  and  stupendous 
works  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  which  filled  all 
Europe  with  the  grandest  monuments.  Thus  was  completed  a  per- 
fect cycle  of  the  art,  tracing  it  from  its  origin  back  to  the  place  of 
its  birth,  Italy,  which  was  also  that  of  its  earliest  decline,  and  where 
it  was  smothered  under  Renaissant  trash. 

In  England  we  may  say  that  there  was  no  ante  Norman  style 
whatever ;  at  least  all  her  alleged  Saxon  remains  present  nothing 
which  could  stand  for  a  moment  against  a  style  that  might  lay 
claim  to  the  slightest  portion  of  artistic  merit.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  twelfth  century  the  foreign  style  had  become  to  a  great  ex- 
tent naturalized,  and  assumed  a  separate  existence.  This  is  well 
exemplified  in  what  remains  of  Lanfranc's  building  at  Canterbury, 
and  that  of  Walkelyn  at  Winchester.  In  these,  and  in  the  work 
of  Gundulph  at  Rochester,  there  is  scarcely  any  difierence  from  the 
continental  Norman  except  what  may  be  ascribed  to  the  inexperi- 
ence of  the  workmen  employed.  Half  a  century  earlier,  the  Ger- 
mans fell  under  French  influence  and  remained  copyists  to  the 
end.  The  English,  on  the  contrary,  soon  gained  sufficient  familiar- 
ity with  the  style  to  enable  them  to  assert  their  independence,  and 
become  inventors  of  new  and  original  forms  of  the  finest  architect- 
ure of  that  or  any  other  age.    The  pointed  arch  was  introduced 


ART. 


273 


at  the  rebuilding  of  the  cathedral  at  Canterbury  after  the  fire  of 
1174,  by  the  architect  WilHam  of  Sens.  But  for  a  long  time  after- 
ward the  innovation  was  resisted  by  the  English,  and  even  down 
to  the  year  1200  the  round  arch  was  currently  employed  in  con- 
junction with  the  pointed.  But  it  then  gave  way,  and  for  three 
centuries  subsequently  was  entirely  banished  from  both  sacred 
and  civil  architecture. 

The  first  great  cathedral  built  in  the  new  style  throughout  was 
Sahsbury,  begun  in  1220  and  finished  essentially  in  1258.  When 
complete,  its  internal  effect  must  have  been  extremely  beautiful ; 
far  more  so  than  that  of  its  cotemporary  and  great  rival  at  Amiens. 
Westminster  Abbey  was  commenced  twenty-five  years  later,  and  is 
evidently  more  imitative  of  the  French  style.  Lincoln  was  finished 
about  the  year  1282,  and  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  true  Ed- 
wardian style  of  perfected  English  art.  These  are  chiefly  of  the 
earliest  period,  or  lancet  style.  The  great  storehouse  of  the  second 
type,  or  decorated  architecture  is  Exeter  cathedral  finished  in  the  year 
1330.  Of  the  third  period,  ov  perpendicular,  the  nave  of  Winches- 
ter is  the  source  and  model  of  all.  It  was  invented  by  the  arch- 
bishop William  of  Wykeham,  who  with  the  vigor  and  strength  of 
the  grandest  Norman  architecture  combined  all  the  elegant  sym- 
metry of  the  purest  pointed  style.  This  was  consummated  in  the 
year  1400.  Now  what  is  worthy  of  special  notice  is  the  fact  that 
the  three  masterpieces  of  their  respective  types,  the  only  ones  that 
ever  existed,  or  perhaps  ever  w^ill,  are  in  the  three  most  western 
counties  of  England.  From  the  tenth  to  the  fifteenth  century, 
there  was  a  continuous  series  of  buildings,  one  succeeding  the  other 
in  the  outgrowth  of  the  same  principle,  and  the  last  containing  not 
only  all  the  improvements  previously  introduced,  but  contributing 
something  new  itself  toward  perfecting  a  style  which  occupied  the 
serious  attention  of  all  exalted  minds,  and  an  immense  variety  of 
operatives  who  carried  out  with  masterly  practical  skill  what  their 
superiors  in  science  designed.  Thus  the  massive  Norman  pier  was 
giadually  lightened  into  the  clustered  shaft  of  elegant  Gothic;  the 
low  wagon-vault  expanded  into  the  fairy  roof  of  tracery,  and  the 
small  window  of  primitive  churches,  became  "  a  transparent  wall 
of  gorgeous  hues"  in  the  sublimest  cathedrals,  and,  despite  shame- 
ful neglect  or  abuse,  still  remain  as  the  most  wonderful  miracles  of 

12* 


274 


LEO  X. 


art.  No  buildings  on  earth  are  more  interesting  than  the  the  cathe- 
drals of  Europe,  and  especially  of  England,  since  each  one  stands 
the  built-up  chronicle  of  national  architecture,  on  which,  from  crypt 
to  spire,  are  recorded  in  significant  language,  the  wonders  of  invent- 
ive genius  and  constructive  skill. 

In  tracing  the  hand  of  Providence  in  monumental  art,  it  is  im- 
portant to  observe  that  all  original  invention  in  architecture  comes 
from  Greece  through  Rome,  and  that  the  coloring  thereof  is  also 
derived  from  the  East  The  Doric  and  Corinthian  orders  are  the 
formative  molds  of  all  subsequent  forms,  the  one  of  all  Roman- 
esque buildings,  Byzantine,  Lombard,  and  Norman ;  and  the  other 
of  all  Gothic,  French,  German,  and  English.  Says  Ruskin,  in  his 
Stones  of  Venice,  "  Those  old  Greeks  gave  the  shaft ;  Rome  gave 
the  arch ;  the  Arabs  pointed  and  foliated  the  arch.  The  shaft 
and  arch,  the  framework  and  strength  of  architecture,  are  from  the 
race  of  Japhet:  the  spirituality  and  sanctity  of  it  from  Ishmael, 
Abraham,  and  Shem." 

With  the  new  style  of  building,  were  derived  from  the  Romans 
the  habit  of  consecrating  ground  so  as  entirely  to  withdraw  it  from 
secular  purposes ;  the  sprinMing  of  holy  water ;  the  burning  of 
tapers  at  the  altar ;  olferings  to  propitiate  the  Deity ;  the  worship 
of  divers  saints  and  martyrs ;  and  even  the  insignia  and  dress  of 
the  bishops  and  priests.  Many  of  the  pagan  symbols  also  were 
adopted  in  the  decoration  of  the  new  churches ;  a  different  signifi- 
cation being  attached  to  them.  For  example,  the  palm-branch  of 
Bacchus,  the  corn  of  Ceres,  dove  of  Venus,  Diana's  stag,  Juno's 
peacock,  Jupiter's  eagle,  Cybele's  lion,  and  Cupids  changed  into 
cherubs,  were  so  copied  from  the  ancients,  and  made  emblematic 
of  Christian  doctrines.  Orientation,  or  the  elevation  of  a  church 
with  particular  reference  to  the  cardinal  points  was  never  regarded 
in  Italy ;  but  in  moving  westward  the  special  law  was  increasingly 
observed,  until  arriving  in  England  where  every  great  mediaeval 
front  looks  full  at  the  setting  sun.  The  eastern  style  of  that  age 
is  doubtless  related  to  Greek  antiquity,  but  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Latin  Christian  rhymes  of  the  same  period  are  to  be  classed  with 
ancient  literature.  To  refer  all  the  wonders  of  Teutonic  art  to  that 
primal  origin  is  as  unreasonable  as  it  would  be  to  consider  the 
verses  of  Leoine  latinists  the  source  of  the  highest  poetry  from  Dante 


ART. 


275 


to  Shakspeare.  The  simple  fact  is  that  from  Camae  to  Winches- 
ter there  was  perpetual  development  of  increasing  excellence  ;  each 
remove  being  a  monument  of  augmented  good,  and  the  last  always 
the  best. 

"VVe  have  seen  that  Christian  architecture  sprang  from  the  ruins 
of  paganism,  and  attained  the  loftiest  growth.  The  mutual  de- 
pendence of  every  thing  on  earth,  whether  in  the  primary  crea- 
tions of  God,  or  the  secondary  creations  of  man,  is  strikingly  ex- 
emplified in  this  art.  Roman  architecture  was  the  offspring  of 
Oreece,  and  the  parent  of  the  Byzantine,  Lombard,  and  Norman 
styles ;  from  which  again  sprung  that  most  magnificent  proof  of 
man's  power  over  dull  matter,  the  Pointed  system  of  decorated 
construction.  From  first  to  last  there  is  no  gap  nor  pause  in  the 
progress  of  improvement.  Even  when  fearful  signs  were  seen  in 
the  heavens,  and  Rome,  the  former  centre  of  civilization,  had  be- 
come a  nest  of  robbers,  art  was  still  fostered  under  the  auspices  of 
Charlemagne.  Other  calamities  impended,  in  the  midst  of  which 
that  mighty  monarch  passed  away,  and  in  the  crypt  of  his  famous 
church  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  royally  robed  and  crowned,  sceptred 
and  enthroned,  his  good  sword  Joyeuse  by  his  side,  and  the  Bible 
on  his  knees,  he  was  set  to  await,  with  the  dull  stare  of  a  waxen 
image,  the  approaching  advent  of  the  Judgment  Day.  Still  new 
principles  took  root,  and  the  mighty  tide  of  improvement  swept 
onward.  As  the  Tiber  more  and  more  murmured  the  sepulchral 
sentiment  of  romance,  the  Rhine  teemed  with  the  thrilling  power 
of  its  living  energy.  Hence  the  thousand  echoes  of  those  castel- 
lated hills,  and  sacred  associations  around  secluded  vales,  which 
form  the  diapason  of  a  sublime  antiquity.  The  beacon  towers, 
melodious  belfreys,  festal  halls,  and  moss-covered  shrines,  the  deso- 
late cloisters,  the  dungeons,  and  the  very  sepulchres  repeat  to  each 
other,  and  to  the  susceptible  visitant,  the  reiterated  glories  of  king 
and  kayser.  Architecture  is  far  more  expressive  of  both  public 
and  private  life  than  any  other  art  can  be.  The  sight  of  its  dilap- 
idated records  reminds  us  of  the  God's  Truces,  of  the  Crusades,  of 
Feudalism,  and  of  Chivalry,  the  virtues,  crimes,  joys,  and  calamities 
of  long  lapsed  centuries.  Nor  can  we  explore  these  hoary  fabrics 
without  remembering  how  their  vaults  resounded  long  ago  with  the 
psalmody  and  groans  of  our  ancestors,  who,  during  that  tremendous 


276 


LEO  X. 


struggle,  came  to  the  foot  of  the  altar,  begging  of  God  to  give 
them  strength  to  suffer  and  to  hope. 

Saracenic  art  is  a  highly  enriched  and  magnificent  variety  of 
Romanesque,  yet  fantastic  and  incongruous,  a  sort  of  dead  Gothic, 
presenting  the  pointed  arch  and  other  characteristics  of  that  style, 
but  without  one  spark  of  its  pervading  spirit.  These  lifeless  forms 
were  adopted  by  the  Teutonic  architects,  and  by  them  endued  with 
life  and  power.  They  were  the  first  to  grasp  the  great  law  that 
construction  and  decoration  must  proceed  from  the  same  source, 
and  in  a  masterly  way  they  exemplified  the  fundamental  principle 
which  they  had  the  sagacity  to  comprehend. 

The  Chapel  of  St.  Nazario  and  St.  Celso,  erected  at  Ravenna  in 
the  fifth  century,  contains  the  only  tombs  which  remain  in  their 
places  of  the  whole  line  of  Caesars,  whether  oriental  or  occidental. 
Thenceforth  dates  a  new  monumental  art,  equally  separate  from 
the  old  world.  Out  of  the  arch  came  the  vault,  and  out  of  the 
vault  the  cupola,  that  majestic  ornament  to  which  every  other 
feature  is  subordinate,  and  which  is  the  very  Hfe  and  soul  of  By- 
zantine architecture.  The  inspiration  of  the  Cross  produced  nobler 
.forms  of  outline  than  Ictinus  or  Callicrates  could  bestow  on  their 
most  sumptuous  works,  when  its  spreading  arms  reared  aloft  the 
mighty  lantern  of  St.  Sophia,  "preparatory  to  the  still  brighter  day 
when  above  shaft,  and  architrave,  and  pediment,  should  soar  the 
matchless  dome  of  Florence,  and  the  heaven-bound  spires  of  Stras- 
bourg and  Salisbury.  But  another  element  was  requisite  to  this 
result,  and  was  contributed  by  the  genius  of  Lombardy.  The 
campanile,  bell-tower,  or  steeple,  owes  its  origin  entirely  to  Chris- 
tianity amid  western  barbarians;  as  such  a  member  was  never 
attached  to  an  idol-temple,  and  is  forbidden  still  to  the  proudest 
mosques  of  the  false  prophet.  Moreover,  unlike  the  Saracens  who 
never  admitted  animal  forms  into  decorative  construction,  the  Lom- 
bards copiously  used  it  after  every  type  and  form.  Saints,  found- 
ers of  churches,  and  legendary  heroes  were  strangely  intermixed 
with  all  the  strange  animals  of  the  natural  creation,  carved  in  bas- 
reliefs  on  walls,  capitals,  and  wherever,  within  the  edifice  or  with- 
out, a  void  space  was  found  to  receive  them.  When  the  soaring 
nave  of  the  Gothic  minster  supervened  upon  preceding  art,  and 
absorbed  it  all,  then  was  superadded  all  the  beautiful  varieties  of 


ART. 


277 


vegetable  life.  In  the  clustered  and  banded  stalks  of  its  lofty  pil- 
lars, tlie  crisp  leaves  of  its  capitals  and  corbeled  cornices,  the 
interlacing  arches  of  its  fretted  and  embossed  vaults,  and  the  inter- 
minable complexities  of  its  flowing  tracery,  were  seen  traits  which 
comported  well  with  the  hues  that  sparkled  from  roof  and  chapter, 
walls  and  windows,  and  which  recalled  no  work  of  man  indeed,  no 
rustic  hut  or  savage  cavern,  but  the  sublimest  temple  of  natural 
religion ;  the  aspiring  height  of  the  slender  pine,  the  spreading 
arms  of  the  giant  oak,  rich  with  the  varied  tints  of  leaf  and  blos- 
som, soothing  as  the  rustle  of  balmy  breezes,  and  melodious  with 
the  choral  songs  of  ten  thousand  birds. 

Romanesque  architecture  is  the  memento  of  that  stage  in  pro- 
gressive civilization  when  the  church  was  yet  subordinate  to  the 
state ;  when  the  civil  and  spiritual  powers  came  into  open  collision, 
the  dispute  on  investitures  roused  Europe  to  its  very  centre,  and 
the  battle-cry  of  Caesar  was  lost  in  the  crash  of  Pontifical  thunder. 
But  the  aspiring  lancets  and  pinnacles  of  the  thirteenth  century 
commemorate  a  wider  culture  and  loftier  aims.  It  was  not.  simply 
a  spirit  which  with  one  hand  poured  an  unction  on  the  brow  of 
the  ruler,  and  decked  both  crown  and  sceptre  with  the  lily  and  the 
cross,  and  with  the  other  girt  the  bishop  and  the  abbot  with  en- 
signs of  earthly  power,  and  placed  them  foremost  in  the  chief  coun- 
cils of  the  land.  But  the  architecture  of  that  day  proclaims  the 
progress  of  popular  education,  and  is  the  artistic  embodying  of  the 
northern  spirit,  the  soul  of  chivalry  and  romance,  the  age  of  faith, 
and  love,  and  valor.  It  is  redolent  of  the  lordly  prelate  and  the 
consecrated  knight ;  of  Tancred  and  Richard  grappling  with  the 
infidel ;  of  Bayard  dying  with  his  eye  fixed  on  his  cross-hilted 
sword ;  of  Wykcham  every  way  a  peer  beside  the  throne  of  Ed- 
ward, England's  mighty  king.  Then  the  massy  tower  was  sur- 
mounted with  lofty  turrets,  from  the  midst  of  which  shot  up  the 
tapering  beauty  of  the  airy  spire,  bearing  the  once  despised  Cross  tri- 
umphant over  every  earthly  power ;  while  beneath  lay  the  tombs 
of  the  great  and  noble,  not  with  memorials  of  a  fleeting  world  and 
signs  of  hopeless  grief,  but  with  the  symbols  of  faith  and  charity, 
the  hands  still  clasped  in  prayer,  the  eyes  still  fixed  on  the  altar  of 
God. 

But  the  baneful  hour  came  when  a  foreign  influence  and  heathen 


278 


LEO    X . 


taste  obliterated  many  of  these  suggestive  charms.  The  same  in- 
fection which  filled  literature  with  the  pedantry  of  a  mythology 
whose  beauty  its  imitators  did  not  understand,  defiled  Christian 
churches  with  heathen  idols,  and  for  the  cross,  the  lily,  the  holy 
legend,  substituted  the  ox-scull,  naked  cupids,  and  the  garland  of  a 
pagan  sacrifice.  Another  spirit  ruled  in  the  realms  of  art,  and  had 
enthroned  the  eagle  of  Jove  in  the  place  of  the  Holy  Dove.  In 
Spain,  the  Netherlands,  and  in  Scotland,  there  had  been  executed 
much  clever  building,  but  when  the  blow  fell  which  destroyed  fur- 
ther progress  in  this  department,  all  excellence  existed  in  English 
architecture  alone.  It  is  significant  that  not  one  four-centred  arch 
was  produced  even  so  near  as  Scotland,  while  the  last  bloom  of 
monumental  art  unfolded  to  perish  forever  in  the  Mgid  extrava- 
gance of  Tudor  Gothic.  The  budding  forth  of  living  architecture 
was  cotemporaneous  with  one  of  the  grandest  augmentations  of 
religious  sentiment  the  world  has  ever  known,  and  w^as  signalized 
by  the  crusades  and  the  organization  of  th^  great  monastic  orders. 
The  first  germination  of  this  creative  energy  appeared  about  1050, 
and  chiefly  among  the  Normans  of  France  and  England,  where  it 
swelled  forth  with  extraordinary  power  and  vividness.  While  this 
inspiration  lasted,  monumental  art  continued  constantly  to  improve, 
and  reached  its  highest  excellence  in  the  remotest  West.  After 
passing  from  a  Herculean  infancy  to  a  graceful  youth,  and  through 
a  ripe  maturity,  a  superannuated  old  age  was  reached,  and  it  be- 
came extinct  before  the  year  1550  :  so  completely  dead,  that,  since 
then,  no  architect  in  Europe  has  invented  a  new  feature  or  com- 
posed a  new  beauty  in  that  medium.  The  finest  monuments,  and 
the  final  goal  of  Gothic  architecture  are  together  illumined  at  sun- 
set in  western  England,  nearest  to  that  wonder,  Stonehenge,  which 
was  an  antique,  probably,  long  before  Pericles  ruled  or  Christ  was 
born. 

Florence  is  the  only  city  of  the  old  world  that  is  said  to  be  des- 
titute of  ruins.  She  is  the  fair  metropolis  of  modern  art ;  the 
home  of  science,  rather,  which  came  to  displace  the  old  artistic 
types,  and  create  all  things  new.  Such  was  her  influence  in  the 
culminating  power  of  the  Renaissance  under  her  great  son,  Leo  X., 
whose  pontificate  was  cotemporaneous  with  the  radical  overthrow 
of  mediaeval  architecture.    The  Tuscan  capital  will  best  illustrate 


ART. 


279 


the  approach  and  consummation  of  that  result.  The  church  of  St. 
Maria  Novella,  projected  in  the  year  1280,  is  a  Latin  cross,  with 
nave  and  aisles.  Simple  and  majestic,  solid  and  light,  it  embraces 
an  ensemble  of  beauties  that  makes  it  the  fairest  in  Florence  ;  and, 
according'  to  Rica  and  Fineschi,  the  most  graceful  in  Italy.  This 
is  the  edifice  which  Michael  Angelo  termed  his  "  gentle  spouse," 
and  was,  doubtless,  the  precursor  of  Brunellesco's  architecture. 
When  beheld  arrayed  in  its  pomp  on  festal  days,  draped  in  silk  and 
gold,  with  its  altars  lighted ;  or,  better  still,  when  contemplated  in 
its  severe  simplicity,  toward  evening,  when  the  grand  shadows  of 
the  pillars  cross  each  other,  falling  on  the  opposite  walls,  and  the 
richly  tinted  rays  stream  through  its  storied  windows,  coloring 
every  object  around,  the  spectator  feels  himself  exhilarated  and  en- 
nobled with  a  thousand  celestial  thouo^hts.  And  be  it  remembered 
to  the  honor  of  the  two  Dominican  architects,  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra 
Ristaro,  that  they  went  not  to  the  outer  world  for  models  of  such 
beauty  as  this ;  for  it  was  not  till  1294  that  Arnolfo  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  St.  Croce,  and  St.  Maria  del  Fiore  was  not  begun  till  1298. 
But  the  latter  building,  the  cathedral  of  Florence,  is  the  master- 
piece of  Italian  Gothic,  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  churches  pro- 
duced in  the  middle  ages.  The  nave  and  smaller  domes  of  the 
choir  were  probably  completed  as  they  now  stand,  in  the  first  quar- 
ter of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  great  octagon  remained  uncov- 
ered till  Brunelleschi  commenced  the  present  dome  in  the  year 
1420,  and  finished  it  before  his  death,  in  1444.  The  building  may, 
therefore,  be  considered  as  essentially  cotemporary  with  the  cathe- 
dral of  Cologne,  and  is  very  nearly  of  the  same  size.  What  a  con- 
trast in  both  spirit  and  form  !  Perhaps  the  most  typical  example 
of  Italian  art  in  its  best  period,  is  the  tower  erected  close  to  the 
Duomo  just  referred  to,  from  designs  by  Giotto,  commenced  in 
1324,  and  probably  finished  at  the  time  of  his  death,  two  years 
afterward.  It  is  certainly  a  very  beautiful  structure,  and  worthy 
of  the  enthusiastic  praise  which  it  has  received.  The  openings  are 
happily  graduated,  and  being  covered  with  ornament  from  the  base 
to  the  summit,  it  has  not  that  naked  look  so  repulsive  in  many 
others.  The  convent  of  St.  Mark,  whose  history  is  identified  with 
that  of  literature,  arts,  politics,  and  religion,  was  founded  toward 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century.    Little  did  the  magnificent 


280 


LEO  X. 


Cosimo  imagine  that  he  was  there  preparing  an  asylum  for  that  ter- 
rible Savonarola,  who  was  destined  to  dispute  the  dominion  of 
Florence  with  his  posterity.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  buildings 
that  those  great  minds  moved,  the  regenerators  of  Europe,  "  who 
first  broke  the  universal  gloom,  sons  of  the  morning." 

If  the  Florentine  monuments  indicate  the  revival  of  science  and 
the  consequent  debasement  of  art,  the  most  impressive  proof  rela- 
tive to  this  point  is  presented  in  the  famous  church  of  St.  Peter  at 
Rome.  Nothing  more  pagan  in  form  was  ever  erected  on  the  seven 
hills  where  roamed  the  primitive  she-wolf.  Not  as  the  mausoleum 
of  a  Christian  martyr,  but  as  the  stupendous  temple  of  some  classic 
deity,  it  is  doubtless  full  of  surpassing  attractions.  Nothing  was 
ever  done  for  Leonidas  or  Camillus,  for  Regulus  or  for  Julius 
Caesar,  in  comparison  with  this  monument  to  a  humble  fisherman. 
But  what  stranger  to  the  purpose  of  its  erection  would  ever  think 
of  him  in  the  presence  of  this  gorgeous  shrine  ?  Of  the  magnifi- 
cent inscriptions  raised  to  the  wise  and  mighty  of  time,  the 
sublimest  must  yield  to  that  which  encircles  the  sky-suspended 
vault  of  St.  Peters.  A  conqueror  of  the  habitable  world  once  wept 
at  having  reached  the  limits  of  his  sway ;  for,  vast  as  was  his  ambi- 
tion, it  conceived  of  no  such  trophy  as  is  written  around  that  golden 
horizon,  consigning  the  keys  of  heaven  to  one  who  ruled  the  em- 
pire of  earth.  But  before  that  huge  inscription  had  been  raised  to 
its  pride  of  place,  the  last  great  transition  of  human  society  in  the 
age  of  Leo  X.  transpired,  the  most  sudden  and  complete  of  all  rev- 
olutions, the  change  from  the  middle  age  to  the  modern,  from  the 
world  without  printed  books  to  the  world  with  them.  St.  Peters 
was  coeval  with  the  invention  of  printing,  and  the  universal  revival 
of  science.  Before  the  sacristy  was  finished,  the  splendid  endeav- 
ors of  Watt  had  been  crowned  with  success ;  and  in  the  interval 
had  occurred  the  discovery  of  America  and  the  Reformation.  The 
fall  of  Catholic  domination  and  Gothic  art  was  coeval  with  the  end- 
ing of  that  mighty  cycle  of  mutation  wherein  the  web  of  society 
had  been  unraveled  and  re  woven  for  a  yet  more  auspicious  use. 

Sculpture  was  little  practiced  during  the  first  mediaeval  cen- 
turies, but  the  church  soon  gave  that  art  her  patronage,  and  pro- 
duced innumerable  works.  Plastic  and  pictorial  art  was  from  the 
earliest  period  employed  in  sacred  places  for  the  instruction  of  the 


ART. 


281 


people  and  the  edification  of  the  faithful.  In  433,  pope  Sixtus  dedi- 
cated to  the  "  people  of  God  "  the  Mosaics  and  sculptures  in  Santa 
Maria  Maggiore,  at  Rome.  St.  John  Damascenus,  in  the  eighth 
century,  reasoned  earnestly  in  defense  of  statuary  for  religious  pur- 
poses. "Images  speak,"  exclaims  the  eloquent  apologist;  "they 
are  neither  mute  nor  lifeless  blocks,  like  the  idols  of  the  pagans. 
Every  figure  that  meets  our  gaze  in  a  church  relates,  as  if  in  words, 
the  humiliation  of  Christ  for  his  people,  the  miracles  of  the  mother 
of  God,  the  deeds  and  conflicts  of  the  saints.  Images  open  the 
heart  and  awake  the  intellect,  and,  in  a  marvelous  and  indescriba- 
ble manner,  engage  us  to  imitate  the  persons  they  represent." 

As  Catholicism  advanced  it  was  subjected  to  opposing  influences, 
and  the  faintest  shadow  that  darkened,  or  the  lightest  breath  that 
disturbed,  the  external  prosperity  or  the  internal  harmony  of  the 
church,  was  immediately  reflected  by  the  pencil  of  the  artist  and 
the  chisel  of  the  sculptor.  Almost  every  ancient  edifice,  therefore, 
becomes  to  the.  eye  of  careful  observation  a  hieroglyphic  record  of 
the  dogmas  believed  and  the  changes  which  transpired  in  the 
course  of  successive  ages.  During  the  centuries  intervening  be- 
tween the  ninth  and  seventeenth  of  our  era,  numerous  cathedrals, 
parish  churches,  and  private  chapels,  colleges,  abbeys,  and  priories, 
teemed  with  an  almost  incredible  profusion  of  figures,  images,  and 
sacred  compositions,  carved,  sculptured,  and  engraved,  as  the  me- 
dium of  devout  instruction.  Time  and  violence  have  done  much  to 
deface  or  destroy  these  early  works,  but  the  western  states  of  Europe, 
especially  France  and  England,  are  even  now  immensely  rich  in  stat- 
ues and  other  sculptured  works.  The  majority  of  the  French  cathe- 
drals are  illustrated  with  a  vast  variety  of  "  Mirrors  "  in  stone ;  but 
the  most  complete  is  that  which  adorns  the  masterpiece  atChartres, 
which  has  no  less  than  eighteen  hundred  and  fourteen  statues  on 
the  exterior  alone.  The  sculptures  here  open  with  the  creation  of 
the  world,  to  illustrate  which  thirty-six  tableaux  and  seventy-five 
statues  are  employed,  beginning  with  the  moment  when  God  leaves 
his  repose  to  create  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  is  continued  to 
that  in  which  Adam  and  Eve,  having  been  guilty  of  disobedience, 
are  driven  from  Paradise,  to  pass  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in 
tears  and  in  labor.  It  is  the  genesis  of  organic  and  inorganic 
nature,  of  living  creatures  and  reasoning  beings ;  that  in  which  the 


282 


LEO  X. 


biblical  cosmogony  is  developed,  and  which  leads  to  that  terrible 
event,  the  fearful  malediction  pronounced  upon  man  by  his  God. 
From  the  Natural  the  sculptor  passed  to  the  Moral  Mirror^  and 
showed  how  that  man  has  a  heart  to  be  softened,  a  mind  to  be  en- 
lightened, and  a  body  to  be  preserved.  Thence  arise  the  four 
orders  of  virtues,  the  theological,  political,  domestic,  and  personal ; 
all  placed  in  opposition  to  their  contraiy  vices,  as  light  is  to  dark- 
ness. Theological  and  political  virtues,  the  influence  of  which  is 
external,  and  suitable  for  the  public  arena,  are  placed  without ; 
domestic  and  personal  virtues,  which  affect  the  individual  and  his 
family,  are  made  to  retire  within,  where  they  find  shelter  in  still- 
ness and  comparative  obscurity.  Man's  career  is  then  continued 
from  the  creation  to  the  last  judgment,  just  as  the  sun  pursues  his 
course  from  east  to  west,  and  the  remaining  statues  are  employed 
to  exhibit  the  history  of  the  world,  from  the  period  of  Adam  and 
Eve  down  to  the  end  of  time.  The  inspired  sculptor  has,  indeed,  by 
the  aid  of  the  Prophets  and  of  the  Apocalypse,  divined  the  future 
fate  of  man,  long  after  his  earthly  existence  should  have  termi- 
nated. This  is  the  fourth  and  last  division,  completing  what  was 
called  in  the  language  of  the  middle  ages,  the  "  Mirror  of  the  Uni- 
verse." The  intellectual  framework  of  this  stone  Encyclopaedia 
contained  an  entire  poem,  in  the  first  canto  of  which  we  see  re- 
flected the  image  of  nature ;  in  the  second,  that  of  science  ;  that  of 
the  moral  sense  in  the  third ;  of'  man  in  the  fourth ;  and  in  the 
aggregate,  the  entire  world. 

In  those  days,  the  state  of  society  was  such  as  to  allow  little  vent 
to  the  innermost  thoughts  of  the  finely  endowed,  and  the  pent-up 
mind  was  glad  to  expend  a  vast  amount  of  thought  and  labor  upon 
works  which  mechanical  skill  eventually  came  to  supersede.  Be- 
fore the  press  could  do  the  same  work  more  effectually,  the  sculp- 
tor used  a  building  as  a  book  on  which  to  announce  in  powerful 
language  his  own  peculiar  disposition,  hopes,  sentiments,  and  expe- 
rience. Tlie  apparently  grotesque  carvings  sometimes  met  with  in 
the  better  period  of  sculptural  art,  are  indubitably  intended  to  illus- 
trate fables,  legends,  romances,  as  well  as  individual  creeds.  But 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  a  moral  and  political  revolution  spread 
widely  in  all  countries,  and  led  to  a  marked  change  in  sculpture  as 
in  every  other  intellectual  pursuit.     Manual  dexterity  became 


ART. 


283 


nearly  perfect,  and  the  capability  of  molding  stone  like  wax, 
combined  with  the  rapid  unfolding  of  bold  and  novel  ideas,  induced 
a  passionate  love  of  fantastic  ornament  so  peculiar  to  a  vicious 
Renaissance  style.  Thus,  while  the  figure  sculpture  of  France  and 
England  still  possessed  a  very  peculiar  and  severe  character,  emi- 
nently ideal,  in  Italy,  under  the  Pisani,  plastic  art  grew  to  be  dra- 
matic and  picturesque,  the  conventionahties  of  the  antique  were 
revived,  and  with  the  study  of  abstract  beauty,  came  the  loss  of 
much  freshness  and  individuality. 

In  the  age  when  the  republic  of  Florence  bid  one  of  her  archi- 
tects "  build  the  greatest  church  in  the  world,"  all  the  fine  arts  rose 
simultaneously,  and  advanced  with  gigantic  steps.  Architecture 
and  sculpture  led  the  van,  and  had  their  chief  seat  in  Tuscany, 
under  the  disciples  of  Nicholas  of  Pisa.  Rienzi  and  Petrarch  had 
been  as  diligent  in  the  collection  of  gems  and  medals  as  in  their 
search  after  classical  manuscripts,  and  their  example  was  not  lost 
upon  their  successors.  Poggio,  Cosmo  de  Medici,  and  other  illus- 
ti'ious  private  men  gave  origin  to  princely  museums.  The  gallery 
of  statues  and  other  antiquities  belonging  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
and  the  academy  annexed  to  it,  constituted  the  great  school  in 
which,  with  many  others,  the  genius  of  young  Michael  Angelo 
was  formed.  Berfoldo,  the  Florentine  sculptor,  an  aged  and  expe- 
rienced master,  who  had  studied  under  Donatello,  was  the  custo- 
dian of  the  Medician  garden,  and  gave  lessons  to  all  the  youthful 
cultivators  of  art.  Poets  hymned  t|^e  praises  of  each  splendid 
creation,  and  thus  stimulated  the  most  enthusiastic  rivalry.  Pin- 
darus  and  Tirteus  sang  the  glories  of  the  Greeks,  and  why  should 
not  the  bards  of  Florence  enkindle  in  these  young  bosoms  the  love 
of  a  similar  glory  ?  It  was  a  grand  spectacle  to  behold  the  flower 
of  Italian  genius  assembled,  where  chisel  and  hammer  made  the 
marble  ring,  and  the  emulative  canvas  glowed  with  most  fascinat- 
ing tints.  Thus  was  this  garden  a  lyceum  for  the  philosopher,  an 
arcadia  for  the  poet,  and  an  academy  for  the  artist ;  and  no  quality 
that  it  could  either  elicit  or  impart  was  foreign  to  the  mighty  mind 
of  Michael  Angelo.  He  was  the  truest  exponent  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  should  be  regarded  as  the  chief  agent  in  substituting 
modern  for  mediaeval  art.  He  founded  modern  Italy  immediately 
on  ancient  ruins,  and  did  much  to  eflface  the  memory  of  the  middle 


284 


LEO  X. 


ages.  Marble  was  to  Michael  Angelo  what  the  Italian  language 
was  to  the  greatest  of  Florentine  writers  ;  and  with  a  mind  as  vast 
and  free  as  that  of  Dante,  of  whom  he  was  the  warmest  admirer, 
he  simultaneously  illustrated  supreme  ability  in  all  the  liberal  arts. 

While  a  new  life  impelled  art  in  Germany,  France,  and  the 
Netherlands,  during  the  eleventh  century,  the  appreciation  of  sculp- 
ture had  already  begun  in  Italy ;  and,  at  the  end  of  the  succeeding 
century,  it  had  reached  the  lowest  point  of  ignorance.    But  in  the 
thirteenth  century  occurred  the  incident  which  was  the  ocasion  of 
a  favorable  reaction.    Among  the  multitude  of  ancient  marbles 
brought  home  from  the  East  by  the  Pisan  fleet  at  the  time  of  re- 
building the  cathedral  of  Pisa,  was  a  bas-relief  representing  two 
subjects  taken  from  the  story  of  Phaedra  and  Hippolytus.  Being 
used  as  a  decoration  in  the  front  of  that  noble  building,  young 
Nicholas  observed,  admired,  and  emulated  its  artistic  worth.  His 
successful  endeavors  led  to  a  complete  revolution  in  sculpture.  In 
the  fourteenth  century,  Andrew  of  Pisa  continued  the  work  of  his 
predecessors,  and  was  aided  in  keeping  the  art  in  an  elevated  path 
by  Orgagna,  and  the  brothers  Agostino  and  Agnolo  of  Siena. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  under  Donatello,  and 
Ghiberti,  sculpture  had  again  attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 
Other  eminent  proficients  united  with  these  great  leaders,  and  car- 
ried forward  the  auspicious  development  into  Germany  where  the 
artistic  centre  of  sculpture,  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  fixed  at 
Nuremberg,  the  residence     Adam  Kraft,  Peter  Vischer,  and  his 
sons,  Veit  Stoss,  and  the  great  Albert  Durer.    Before  the  close  of 
this  century,  however,  the  Italian  renaissance  became  universally 
difi'used  in  Germany,  France,  and  Flanders,  and  superseded  what- 
ever of  originality  the  native  artists  had  until  then  preserved. 
Thenceforth,  throughout  the  whole  domain  of  the  mediaeval  age, 
arabesques,  festoons  of  flowers  and  fruit,  branches,  animals,  and 
human  figures,  arranged  in  the  most  fantastic  manner,  took  the 
place  of  all  high  art,  and  the  excellence  of  sculpture  was  at  an  end. 
During  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
seventeenth,  from  Michael  Angelo  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  to  the 
death  of  Salvator  Rosa,  the  fine  arts  underwent  an  irresistible  and 
humiliating  decline. 

Bronze  casting  early  attained  high  excellence  at  Florence,  and 


ART. 


285 


further  north-west.  The  gates  cast  by  Ghiberti,  for  the  chui-ch  of 
S.  Giovanni,  are  perhaps  the  finest  that  ever  came  from  human 
hands ;  and  those  of  the  cathedral  of  Pisa  are  excelled  by  none 
save  these,  which  Michael  Angelo  pronounced  to  be  fit  for  the  por- 
tal of  Heaven.  In  Mosaics  and  Gem  engraving,  also,  the  Italians 
greatly  excelled  previous  to  the  seventeenth  century,  so  fatal  to  the 
arts,  literature,  and  morals  of  that  fated  land.  All  the  beauties  of 
Christian  art  faded  away  one  after  the  other,  and  that  same  century 
witnessed  the  apostacy  of  painting,  as  well  as  sculpture,  which, 
after  having  abjured  its  high  and  holy  office  of  civil  and  religious 
instructress,  sought  to  derive  its  inspirations  from  the  Pagan 
Olympus. 

Mediaeval  Italy  exulted  in  art  generally,  and  especially  in  painting ; 
but  it  was  of  a  type  utterly  unlike  that  which  the  ancients  produced. 
The  Greeks  loved  art  because  it  enabled  them  to  embody  the 
images  which  were  inspired  by  direct  intercourse  with  earth^s  fair- 
est forms,  and  they  used  it  simply  as  the  minister  of  nature,  and  of 
beauty.  But  the  Italians  were  imbued  with  more  celestial  sympa- 
thies, and  employed  beauty  and  nature  chiefly  as  the  vehicles  of 
spiiitual  sentiment  and  exalted  aspirations.  In  the  fifth  century  pic- 
torial art  was  gradually  Romanized  in  the  hands  of  early  Christian- 
ity, and  became  transformed  as  it  was  transmitted  toward  the  West. 
Mount  Athos  and  Constantinople,  were,  for  many  centuries,  the 
great  sources  of  artistic  activity,  which  imparted  to  painting  a  pe- 
culiar style.  Long  after  originality  in  literature  had  ceased  in  the 
East,  and  national  life  was  there  unknown,  the  creation  of  pictures 
faltered  not,  but  they  were  dry  and  heavy,  like  the  immobile  By- 
zantine government,  and  served  only  to  preserve  the  elements  of 
noble  art,  while  Christianity  itself  w^as  laying  the  foundations  for 
the  future  unity  of  Europe  among  the  progressive  races.  Down  to 
the  tenth  century,  art  was  absolutely  controlled  by  this  frigid  con- 
ventionalism, but  great  improvements  supervened  as  soon  as  an  ap- 
preciative race  had  been  prepared. 

As  the  effete  world  beyond  the  Adriatic  expired,  the  republic  of 
Venice  arose  and  inherited  all  that  the  superseded  orient  had  pre- 
served. In  point  of  art,  down  to  the  thirteenth  century,  she  may 
be  considered  almost  exclusively  a  Byzantine  colony,  inasmuch  as 
her  painters  adhered  entirely  to  the  hereditary  models.    But  as 


286 


LEO  X. 


Byzantium  had  condemned  all  the  higher  forms  of  plastic  art,  Ven- 
ice could  derive  no  assistance  from  that  source,  and,  consequeDtly, 
her  sculpture  bore  an  entirely  new  phase.  The  Venetian  mosaics, 
especially,  we  may  regard  as  the  most  legible  record  of  the  great 
transition  and  new  creation  which  at  this  era  transpired.  As  early 
as  the  year  882,  large  works  in  this  compound  style,  in  a  church 
at  Murano,  represented  Christ  with  the  Virgin,  between  saints 
and  archangels.  With  incomparably  greater  originality  and  force 
is  this  new  type  represented  in  the  church  of  St.  Mark,  founded 
A.D.  976,  the  earliest  mural  pictures  of  which  date  back  at  least  to 
the  eleventh,  perhaps  even  to  the  tenth  century. 

Mediaeval  painting  perfected  itself  in  the  same  way  as  ancient 
sculpture.  The  imperfect  but  severe  and  characteristic  representa- 
tions of  primitive  art  became  types,  which  later  ages  were  slow  to 
alter ;  they  were  copied  and  recopied  until  a  great  revolution  in 
popular  thought  broke  the  fetters  of  conventional  control.  Such, 
in  the  olden  times,  was  the  victory  over  the  Persians,  the  triumph 
of  Greek  independence ;  in  the  middle  ages  it  was  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  secular  and  sacred  powers.  As  ^schylus  and  Phidias 
mark  that  epoch  in  the  Periclean  age,  so  Dante  and  Giotto,  with 
the  Rhenish  masters,  form,  in  this  respect,  the  great  symbols  of  the 
age  of  Leo  X.  With  them  pure  religious  feeling  is  the  most  per- 
vading impulse,  and  a  sense  of  divinity  habitually  directs  their 
hands ;  but  the  perception  of  the  latter  was  more  comprehensive, 
and  rising  above  the  narrow  horizon  of  their  predecessors,  they 
soared  beyond  the  periphery  of  actual  life,  and  embraced  the  infi- 
nite. All  leading  spirits,  like  Dante  and  Giotto,  stood  before  the 
world,  and,  with  the  power  of  their  genius,  surveyed  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  what  was  required  by  their  age,  religiously  and  politically. 
They  were  inspired  by  the  behef  which  they  glorified,  and  partici- 
pated in  benevolent  struggles,  not  more  by  their  writings  than  by 
their  paintings.  They  extended  the  boundaries  of  the  realm  of  art ; 
its  representations  became  richer  and  broader;  the  composition 
was  rendered  dramatical,  the  drawing  and  coloring  natural ;  and  a 
loftier  development  was  occasioned  by  the  discovery  of  monuments 
of  the  old  civilization,  which  had  been  buried  and  forgotten  for 
centuries.  Art-elements  which  had  before  existed  in  a  mummified 
state,  now  fell  like  over-ripe  fruit;  but  not  before  the  soil  of 


ART. 


287 


the  western  world  was  suflSciently  fitted  to  receive  the  precious 
seed. 

After  architecture,  miniature  drawing  alone  sustained  the  chief 
honor  of  art  through  a  long  course  of  centuries ;  and,  without  it, 
the  history  of  painting  could  not  be  written.  Born  in  the  disastrous 
days  of  barbaric  irruptions,  miniature  grew  up  within  the  shadow 
of  the  cloister,  and  contained  within  itself  the  germs  of  all  the  mag- 
nificence which  the  pencil  of  Italy  finally  produced.  Enamored  of 
solitude  and  contemplative  life,  the  graphic  industry  of  monks  em- 
ployed the  darkest  period  of  human  history  in  preserving  the  pre- 
cious fragments  of  the  classics,  while  it  adorned  itself  with  the 
charms  of  liturgical  poetry,  and  the  wealth  of  biblical  truth. 
Usually  the  same  individual  was  at  once  a  chronicler  of  pious 
legends,  a  transcriber  of  antique  manuscripts,  and  a  miniaturist,  and 
his  glowing  lines  were  not  more  significant  than  the  little  pictures 
which  gemmed  the  page.  Above  each  vignette  he  was  wont  to 
wreathe  a  crown  of  flowers,  that  his  written  words  might  find  an 
echo  in  the  graces  of  his  pencil ;  and  the  latter  was  a  better  inter- 
preter of  the  author's  heart  than  the  barbarous  idioms  then  spoken. 
The  Idyl,  the  Eclogue,  and  the  Epic,  called  forth  all  the  power  and 
graces  of  this  refined  art ;  and  if  Allighieri,  in  the  Divina  Comme- 
dia,  records  with  honor  the  two  great  fathers  of  Italian  painting, 
Cimabue  and  Giotto,  he  has  not  omitted  the  two  most  celebrated 
miniaturists  of  his  age,  Oderigi  da  Gubbio,  and  Franco  of  Bologna. 
This  association  of  extremes  was  a  proper  one,  since  the  ideas  of 
large  compositions  lay  inclosed  in  the  smallest  illuminations,  like 
unfolded  flowers,  each  shrined  in  its  delicate  bud. 

Glass-painting  sprang  into  existence  simultaneously  with  minia- 
ture in  the  dark  ages ;  and  these  inseparable  corapanions  w^re  sub- 
jected to  the  same  vicissitudes,  and  shared  one  common  fate.  The 
former  was  cultivated  in  Italy  as  early  as  the  eighth  centuiy,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  treatise  on  this  subject  and  mosaic,  published 
by  Muratori ;  also  in  the  work  of  the  monk  Theophilus,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  ninth  century.  Like  miniature,  it  constituted  the  de- 
light of  the  cloister  for  many  an  age,  during  which  the  cultivators 
of  these  twin-born  arts  produced  many  glorious  monuments  of  their 
genius,  when  both  species  closed  their  career  east  of  the  Alps  with 
Era  Eustachio  of  Florence.  Perugino,  Ghiberti,  Donatello,  and  other 


288 


LEO  X. 


artists  of  the  highest  order,  frequently  furnished  designs  at  a  later 
period ;  but  in  preparing  and  coloring  glass,  the  Italians  were 
greatly  excelled  by  more  western  races.  The  fifteenth  century  was 
the  most  luminous  period  of  the  art ;  in  that  which  succeeded,  it 
reached  its  perfection  on  the  Atlantic  shore  and  died. 

Mediaeval  painting,  properly  so  called,  emerged  from  the  By- 
zantine types  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  superstitious  rigor 
of  symbolism  was  then  escaped,  and  the  infant  genius  of  true  art 
attained  the  earliest  movements  of  creative  power.  This  is  shown 
in  the  Madonna  of  Duccio,  at  Siena,  dated  a.  d.,  1220,  and  which  is 
the  oldest  existing  picture,  or  movable  work,  by  an  Italian  artist. 
Next  in  date,  and  superior  as  art,  is  the  Madonna  by  Cimabue,  in 
the  Novella  at  Florence.  But  even  this  seems  rather  a  petrified 
type  of  womanhood,  and  could  hardly  be  regarded  as  the  flaming 
morning-star  of  a  day  about  to  spread  from  the  bay  of  Naples  to  the 
borders  of  the  Rhine,  bright  with  the  splendors  of  Giotto,  Perugino, 
Raphael,  Fra  Beato,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  the  sweet  masters  of  the 
German  school.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  note  particularly  the 
character  and  career  of  individual  painters,  but  to  remind  our  read-  - 
ers  of  the  great  and  wonderful  law  of  progress,  in  this  as  in  every 
other  respect.  For  example,  while  the  two  leading  universities  of 
Bologna  and  Paris  arose  to  feed  the  lamp  of  science,  art,  following 
the  general  movement,  and  in  the  same  direction,  elevated  itself  to 
greater  dignity  of  development  and  conception.  Poesy  lisped  with 
the  Troubadours,  but  they  were  sent  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
manly  utterance  of  the  great  AUighieri ;  and  painting,  associating 
itself  with  the  bards,  did  not  give  Giotto  to  the  world  till  Dante 
was  prepared  to  sing  the  three  kingdoms  of  the  second  life.  From 
the  first  etchings  on  the  walls  of  catacombs,  and  the  primitive 
symbols  of  faith  depicted  on  martyr-urns,  actual  advancement  had 
not  ceased :  but  a  still  more  auspicious  hour  now  dawned  when 
forms  of  beauty  appeared  which  rivaled  the  productions  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  excelling  the  ancients  by  the  sublimity  of  those 
holy  sentiments  transfused  from  heaven  into  the  heart  and  intellect 
of  its  cultivators. 

Giovanni,  of  the  noble  family  of  Cimabue,  was  born  in  the  year 
1240,  and  on  account  of  the  great  improvement  which  he  wrought 
in  his  art,  is  looked  upon,  perhaps  too  exclusively,  as  the  founder 


ART. 


289 


of  modem  painting.  He  was  the  disciple  of  a  Greek  mosaic  paint- 
er at  Florence,  and  worthily  reproduced  the  excellence  he  was  born 
to  perpetuate. 

Giotto,  the  son  of  Bondone,  was  born  near  Florence  in  the  year 
1276.  It  is  said  that  he  was  a  shepherd  boy,  and  was  discovered 
drawing  a  sheep  upon  a  slab  of  stone  by  Ciraabue,  who  took  him 
home  and  instructed  him  in  painting.  In  him  the  graphic  art  was 
associated  with  the  ecstasy  of  a  contemplative  mind,  and  became  a 
powerful  and  animated  language.  He  did  not  astound  or  flatter 
the  senses  by  the  strength  of  tints,  or  the  violent  contrast  of  lights 
and  shadows  ;  but  like  his  great  successor,  Angelico,  in  the  urban- 
ity and  variety  of  lines,  in  the  profiling  of  countenances,  and  in 
the  ingenuous  movement  of  the  figure,  he  portrayed  that  harmony 
which  pervades  all  creation,  and  which  reveals  itself  most  divinely 
in  the  gentle  companion  of  man. 

Amid  the  rugged  Apennines  about  Umbria  there  was  reared  a 
simple  and  solitary  school  of  painting  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
which  gloried  in  sublime  inspirations,  and  cultivated  external  beauty 
only  to  show  the  splendor  of  its  conceptions.  Such  were  Fabriano, 
Credi,  Perugino,  Pinturricchio,  and  Raphael  who  came  down  to 
Florence  to  mature  their  capacities  and  ennoble  their  art,  in  com- 
petition with  the  great  leaders  of  the  Tuscan  school,  Giotto  Mem- 
mi,  Gaddi,  Spinello,  Pietro  Cavallini,  and  the  rest.  These  are  the 
men  who  first  burst  the  trammels  of  dryness,  meagreness  and 
servile  imitation ;  who  first  introduced  a  free,  bold,  and  flowing 
outline,  coupled  with  examples  of  dignified  character,  energetic 
action,  and  concentrated  expression ;  invented  chiaroscuro  and 
grouping,  and  at  the  point  of  culmination  imparted  to  their  works 
a  majesty  unrivaled  in  the  history  of  pictorial  art.  That  was  a 
memorable  epoch  truly,  and  for  the  imitative  arts  one  of  superla- 
tive glory.  For  while  the  people  were  struggling  between  tyranny 
and  liberty  ;  while  philosophy  was  engaged  in  its  deliriums  about 
judicial  astrology,  and  the  civil  code  was  cruel  and  oppressive, 
painting  gradually  approached  that  sovereign  excellence  to  which 
the  genius  of  Leonardo  and  Raphael  were  destined  to  exalt  it ;  till, 
with  the  rapidity  that  signalized  its  ascent,  it  began  to  sink  into 
decay  and  ruin. 

It  would  seem  that  oil-painting  was  practiced  in  Giotto's  time  ; 

18 


290  LEO  X. 

but  it  came  not  into  general  use  imtil  about  1410,  when  this 
superior  medium  of  art  was  either  invented  or  revived  by  the 
Flemish  artist,  John  Van  Eyck,  of  Brughes.  The  place  of  this  in- 
vention is  significant,  and  still  more  the  fact  that  ever  since  the  prog- 
ress of  art  and  the  perfection  of  color  in  Europe  has  neared  that  vi- 
cinity. 

Next  to  the  revival  of  ancient  learning,  and  the  progress  of 
science,  the  age  of  Leo  X.  was  indebted  to  the  perfection  of  paint- 
ing for  its  glory.  It  sprang  from  an  inspiration  as  special,  bore  a 
character  equally  definite,  and  yet  is  invested  with  an  excellence  as 
absolute  as  that  of  Greek  sculpture.  It  was  a  spiritual  plant  of  the 
most  delicate  texture,  the  hfe  of  which  may  be  defined  as  to  its 
limits  with  the  greatest  precision.  Our  countryman,  unfortunately 
now  lost  to  literature,  science,  and  art,  Horace  Binney  Wallace, 
presents  the  facts  in  the  following  summary  form  :  "  The  first  bud 
broke  through  the  hard  rind  of  conventionality  about  the  year 
1220,  and  the  scene  of  its  first  growth  may  be  fixed  at  Siena;  and 
by  the  year  1320  the  germination  of  the  whole  trunk  was  decis- 
ively advanced.  Cimabue  and  Giotto  had  spread  examples  of 
Art  over  all  Italy.  In  the  next  century,  till  1470,  all  the  branches 
and  sprays  that  the  frame  was  to  exhibit  were  grown  ;  the  leafage 
was  luxuriantly  full,  and  the  buds  of  the  flowers  were  formed, 
Memmi,  the  Gaddis,  the  Orgagnas,  the  Lippis,  Massaccio,  and, 
more  than  all,  as  relates  to  spiritual  development,  Fra  Beato  had 
lived  and  wrought.  About  1470,  the  peerless  blossom  of  Perfec- 
tion began  to  expand,  and  continued  open  for  seventy  years,  the 
brightest  period  of  its  glow  being  between  1500  and  1535.  Its 
life  declined  and  expired  almost  immediately.  After  1570  nothing 
of  original  or  progressive  vitality  w^as  produced  in  Italy.  Fra 
Bartolomeo  had  died  in  1517  ;  Leonardo  in  1519  ;  Raphael  in 
1520  ;  Coreggio  in  1634 ;  Michael  Angelo,  at  a  great  age,  in  1563; 
Giorgione  had  died  in  1511;  John  Bellini  in  1516;  Titian  sur- 
vived till  1576,  at  the  age  of  99  ;  and  Veronese  died  in  1588. 
The  complete  exhaustion  of  the  \atal  force  of  Art,  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  great  painters  who  were  all  living  in  1500,  is  a  notice- 
able fact.  With  the  exception  of  the  after-growth  of  the 
Bolognese  school — of  whom  Dominicheno,  Guido,  and  Gueroino, 
alone  are  worth  notice — which  flourished  between  1600  and  1660, 


ART. 


291 


nothing  in  the  manner  of  the  previous  days,  but  false  and  feeble 
imitations  appeared." 

Great  artists  went  westward  often  to  execute  masterpieces  for  the 
most  appreciative  and  powerful  patrons  in  the  age  of  Leo,  as  before 
in  the  times  of  Augustus  and  Pericles,  but  progress  in  refinement 
called  them  eastward  never.  When  the  arts  were  in  their  highest 
vigor  in  Italy,  they  were  wooed  to  the  banks  of  the  Seine  and  the 
Thames,  by  that  true  lover,  Francis  I.,  of  France,  and  by  the  mon- 
ied  might  of  England.  The  richest  art  treasures  on  earth  have 
ever  since  accumulated  in  the  retreats  where  choice  collections  then 
were  first  commenced,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  more  fully  to  state 
when  we  come  to  sketch  the  age  now  transpiring.  For  ten  centuries 
the  vast  and  progressive  populace  of  continental  Europe  had  no  other 
representative  than  the  Church  ;  it  was  then  that  Art  achieved  its 
greatness  under  the  fostering  care  of  CathoHcism,  when  the  Church 
belonged  to  the  People,  and  they  were  comparatively  free.  But 
when  Religion  sank  into  bigotry,  and  Art,  instead  of  addressing 
the  popular  heart,  was  compelled  to  minister  to  the  narrow  demands 
of  private  patrons,  she  passed  beyond  seas,  and  awaited  fairer  au;* 
pices  in  the  midst  of  a  freer  race. 


CHAPTER  III. 


SCIENCE. 

Exactly  at  the  era  wlien  the  great  European  race  was  dismem- 
bered, the  Latin  tongue  was  disused.  This  had  formerly  been  the 
universal  tie  between  dissimilar  tribes,  and  when  it  was  sundered 
by  such  men  as  Dante,  who  rose  to  stamp  the  seal  of  their  genius 
upon  the  idiom  of  the  common  people,  science  soared  sublimely 
amid  the  new  growth  of  national  languages,  and  became  the  su- 
preme and  most  universally  uniting  bond.  When  Italy  had  grad- 
ually become  nationalized  as  one  Italy,  Spain  as  one  Spain,  Ger- 
many as  one  Germany,  France  as  one  France,  and  Britain  as  one 
Great  Britian ;  and  when  that  still  mightier  process  of  civilization, 
the  Reformation,  had  supervened,  ecclesiastical  union  was  destroyed, 
and  then  it  was  that  enlarged  invention  came  to  the  rescue  and 
supplied  the  conservative  influence  which  was  most  in  demand. 
Increased  ardor  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  led  to  wider  and  more 
frequent  intercommunications,  both  mental  and  physical,  while  these 
in  turn  were  encouraged  and  protected  by  the  improved  polity  of  as- 
piring states.  A  new  voice  even  more  cosmopolitic  than  cotempo- 
raneous  creeds  broke  upon  the  roused  and  exulting  peoples  saying, 
"  One  is  your  master.  Thought,  and  all  ye  are  brethren  !"  Sciences 
lead  most  directly,  and  with  greatest  efficiency  to  general  views ; 
and,  above  all,  natural  law,  that  science  which  treats  of  inherent  and 
universal  rights,  arose  and  was  cultivated  with  propitious  zeal. 
The  dawn  was  begun,  and  the  noon  was  not  far  ofi"  when  in  central 
Europe  a  great  proficient  in  universal  history  could  say :  "  The 
barriers  are  broken,  which  severed  states  and  nations  in  hostile  ego- 
tism. One  cosmopolitic  bond  unites  at  present  all  thinking  minds, 
and  all  the  light  of  this  century  may  now  freely  fall  upon  a  new 
Galileo  or  Erasmus." 


SCIENCE. 


293 


From  the  sixth  to  the  fourteenth  century  the  science  of  govern- 
ment, as  laid  down  by  Justinian,  was  illustrated  by  the  labors  and 
comments  of  numerous  celebrated  jurisconsults.  The  Byzantine 
legislation  yielded  on  two  essential  points  to  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  institution  of  marriage,  which  in  the  Code  and  Pan- 
dects was  only  directed  by  motives  of  policy,  assumed,  in  911,  a 
legal  religious  character ;  and  domestic  slavery  disappeared  grad- 
ually, to  be  replaced  by  serfdom.  A  charter  was  even  granted  to 
the  serfs  by  the  emperor  Emanuel  Comnenus  in  1143.  Imerius,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  opened  the  first  law-school  in 
his  native  city,  Bologna,  and  thenceforth  that  science  absorbed  re- 
publican intellects,  and  led  to  a  clearer  defining  of  civil  rights.  A 
passion  for  this  study  possessed  even  the  gentler  sex ;  as  in  the  case 
of  Novella  Andrea  da  Bologna,  who  was  competent  to  fill  the  pro  - 
fessor's chair,  during  her  father's  absence,  and  delivered  eloquent 
lectures  on  arid  law.  Sybil-like,  she  took  care  to  screen  her  lovely 
face  behind  a  curtain,  "  lest  her  beauty  should  turn  those  giddy 
young  heads  she  was  appointed  to  edify  and  enlighten."  Modeled 
after  this  pattern,  law-schools  spread  widely,  and  the  study  of  the 
Lombard  and  Tuscan  municipal  constitutions  eventually  roused  the 
European  communities  to  break  the  bonds  of  feudalism.  The 
principle  of  personal  and  political  freedom  so  indelibly  rooted  in 
each  individual  consciousness  respecting  the  equal  rights  of  the 
whole  human  race,  is  by  no  means  the  discovery  of  recent  times. 
At  the  darkest  hour  of  the  middle  period  of  history  this  idea  of 
"  humanity"  in  no  mean  degree  existed  and  began  to  act  slowly 
but  continuously  in  realizing  a  vast  brotherhood  in  the  midst  of 
our  race,  a  unit  impelled  by  the  purpose  of  attaining  one  partic- 
ular object,  namely,  the  free  development  of  all  the  latent  powers 
of  man,  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  his  rights. 

In  this  department,  as  in  all  the  rest,  Florence  was  the  seat  of  su- 
preme mental  power  during  the  age  of  Leo  X. ;  she  fostered  the 
genius  which  spread  widely  in  beauty  and  might.  In  the  fifteenth 
century,  an  ancient  and  authentic  copy  of  the  Justinian  constitutions 
was  captured  at  Pisa,  and  given  by  Lorenzo  de  Medici  to  the  custody 
of  PoUtiano,  the  most  distinguished  mediaeval  professor  of  legal 
science.  He  corrected  numerous  manuscripts,  supervised  the  pub- 
lication of  repeated  editions,  and  prepared  the  way  for  all  the  great 


294 


LEO  X. 


improvements  which,  in  his  profession,  have  since  been  made. 
Politiano  and  Lorenzo,  as  they  together  took  daily  exercise  on 
horseback,  were  wont  to  converse  on  their  morning  studies,  and 
this  was  characteristic  of  the  intellectual  life  of  that  age  and  city. 
The  vivifying  light  which  began  to  pour  on  a  hemisphere  was  es- 
pecially concentrated  on  the  Tuscan  capital,  and  all  the  sciences 
simultaneously  awoke  from  torpor  under  the  invigorating  beams. 
Like  a  sheltered  garden  in  the  opening  of  spring,  Florence  re-echoed 
with  the  earliest  sounds  of  returning  energy  in  every  walk  of  scien- 
tific invention.  The  absurdities  of  astrology  were  exposed,  and 
legitimate  deduction  was  substituted  in  the  place  of  conjecture 
and  fraud.  Antonio  Squarcialupi  excelled  all  his  predecessors  in 
music,  and  Francesco  Berlinghieri  greatly  facilitated  the  study  of 
geography.  Lorenzo  de  Medici  himself  gave  especial  attention  to 
the  science  of  medicine,  and  caused  the  most  eminent  professors  to 
prosecute  their  researches  under  the  auspices  of  his  name  and 
bounty.  Paolo  Toscanelli  erected  his  celebrated  Gnomen  near  the 
Platonic  academy ;  and  Lorenzo  da  Volpaja  constructed  for  his  prince- 
ly namesake  a  clock,  or  piece  of  mechanism,  which  not  only  marked 
the  hours  of  the  day,  but  the  motions  of  the  sun  and  of  the  planets, 
the  eclipses,  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  whole  revolutions  of 
the  heavens. 

The  study  of  scientific  progress  requires  us  again  to  notice  the 
wonderful  use  which  Providence  makes  of  the  three  original  elements 
of  postdiluvian  humanity  in  the  execution  of  infinite  designs.  The 
Arabians  were  a  Shemitic  race,  raised  into  power  in  near  neighbor- 
hood to  the  heritage  of  Ham,  and  were  the  contributors  of  numerous 
mental  stores  which  were  happily  adapted  yet  further  to  augment 
the  superiority  of  Japhet.  These  children  of  Ishmael  existed  at  a 
gloomy  period,  and  performed  a  most  important  work.  They  drew 
from  the  last  living  sources  of  Grecian  wisdom,  and  directed 
numerous  new  tributaries  into  the  great  central  current  of  civihza- 
tion. 

Arabia  is  the  most  westerly  of  the  three  peninsulas  of  southern 
Asia,  a  position  remarkably  favorable  to  political  influence  and 
commercial  enterprise.  The  Mohammedans  were  an  energetic  and 
intelligent  people,  whose  ancestors  led  a  nomadic  life  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years ;  but  from  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century  they 


SCIENCE. 


295 


rose  rapidly  in  the  appreciation  and  extension  of  ennobling  science. 
The  same  race  who,  two  centuries  before,  had  fearfully  ravaged  the 
great  conservatory  of  learning  at  Alexandria,  themselves  became  the 
most  ardent  admirers  of  the  muses,  and  were  unequaled  proficients 
in  the  very  studies  they  had  previously,  in  their  bigoted  fury,  so 
nearly  annihilated.  They  garnered  Greek  manuscripts  with  the 
greatest  assiduity,  and  became  sufficiently  masters  of  their  import, 
to  set  a  proper  estimate  on  these  valuable  relics  of  ancient  knowl- 
edge. 

To  the  Arabian  mathematicians,  we  are  indebted  for  most  valu- 
able improvements  in  arithmetic,  if  not  in  fact  for  its  invention. 
They  also  transmitted  to  Europe  the  knowledge  of  algebra ;  and 
rendered  still  more  important  service  to  geometrical  science,  by 
preserving  many  works  of  the  ancients,  which,  but  for  them,  had 
been  inevitably  lost.  The  elements  of  Euclid,  with  other  valuable 
treatises,  were  all  transmitted  to  posterity  by  their  means.  The 
Arabian  mathematicians  of  the  middle  ages  were  the  first  to  apply 
to  trigonometry  the  method  of  calculation  which  is  now  generally 
adopted.  Astronomy,  optics,  and  mechanics  were  cultivated  with 
no  less  success ;  and  to  the  Arabs  especially  must  be  accredited  the 
origin  of  chemistry,  that  science  which  has  been  productive  of  so 
many  invaluable  results.  This  gave  them  a  better  acquaintance 
with  nature  than  the  Greeks  or  the  Romans  ever  possessed,  and 
was  apphed  by  them  most  usefully  to  all  the  necessary  arts  of  life. 

Alchemy"  is  an  Arabic  term,  denoting  a  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
stance or  composition  of  a  thing.  The  transmutation  of  common 
metals  into  gold  and  silver,  and  the  discovery  of  a  universal  medicine, 
were  fatiie  pursuits  ;  but  they  led  to  the  method  of  preparing  alcho- 
bol,  aqua-foitis,  volatile  alkali,  vitriolic  acid,  and  many  other  chem- 
ical compounds,  which  might  bave  remained  much  longer  unknown 
but  for  the  persevering  labors  and  patient  experiments  of  the  medi- 
aeval alchemists. 

History  records  many  laudable  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Arab- 
ians in  cultivating  the  natural  sciences.  Abou-al-Ryan-Byrouny,  who 
died  in  the  year  941,  traveled  forty  years  for  the  purpose  of  study- 
ing mineralogy ;  and  his  treatise  on  the  knowledge  of  precious 
stones,  is  a  rich  collection  of  facts  and  observations.  Aben-al- 
Beithar,  who  devoted  himself  with  equal  zeal  to  the  study  of  botany, 


296 


LEO  X. 


traversed  all  the  mountains  and  plains  of  Europe,  in  search  of 
plants.  He  afterward  explored  the  burning  wastes  of  Africa,  for 
the  purpose  of  describing  such  vegetables  as  can  support  the  fervid 
heat  of  that  cliniate ;  and  finally  passed  into  the  remote  countries 
of  Asia.  The  animals,  vegetables,  and  fossils  common  to  the  three 
great  portions  of  earth  then  known,  underwent  his  personal  inspec- 
tion ;  and  he  returned  to  his  native  West  loaded  with  the  spoils  of 
fhe  South  and  East. 

Nor  w^ere  the  arts  cultivated  with  less  success,  or  less  enriched  by 
the  progress  of  natural  philosophy.  A  great  number  of  inventions 
which,  at  the  present  day,  add  to  the  comforts  of  hfe,  are  due  to 
the  Arabians.  Paper  is  an  Arabic  production.  It  had  long,  in- 
deed, been  made  from  silk  in  China,  but  Joseph  Amrou  carried  the 
process  of  paper-making  to  his  native  city,  Mecca,  a.  d.  649,  and 
caused  cotton  to  be  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  it  first  in  the 
year  '706.  Gunpowder  was  known  to  the  Arabians  at  least  a  cen- 
tury before  it  appeared  in  European  histoiy ;  and  the  compass  also 
was  known  to  them  in  the  eleventh  century.  From  the  ninth  to 
the  fourteenth  century,  a  brilliant  light  was  spread  by  literature 
and  science  over  the  vast  countries  which  had  submitted  to  the 
yoke  of  Islamism.  But  the  boundless  regions  where  that  power 
once  reigned,  and  still  continues  supreme,  are  at  present  dead  to 
the  interests  of  science.  Deserts  of  burning  sand  now  drift  where 
once  stood  their  academies,  libraries,  and  universities ;  while  sav- 
age corsairs  spread  terror  over  the  seas,  once  smiling  with  com- 
merce, science,  and  art.  Throughout  that  immense  territory,  more 
than  twice  as  large  as  Europe,  which  was  formerly  subjected  to  the 
power  of  Islamism,  and  enriched  by  its  skill,  nothing  in  our  day 
is  found  but  ignorance,  slavery,  debauchery  and  death. 

Herein  we  have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  wonder-working 
of  Providence.  At  a  time  when  the  nations  of  Europe  were  sunk 
in  comparative  barbarism,  the  Arabians  were  the  depositaries  of 
science  and  learning  ;  when  the  Christian  states  were  in  infancy,  the 
fair  flower  of  Islamism  was  in  full  bloom.  Nevertheless,  the  sap 
of  the  Mohammedan  civilization  was  void  of  that  vitality  and  of 
those  principles  which  alone  insure  eternal  progress,  therefore  was 
it  requisite  that  the  whole  system  should  be  transferred  and  ex- 
hausted on  a  more  productive  field,  in  order  to  secure  the  desired  end. 


SCIENCE. 


297 


The  Arabians  were  tlie  aggressive  conservators  of  talent  rather 
than  the  productive  agents  of  genius ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that 
they  neither  had  the  presentiment,  nor  have  been  direct  harbingers 
of  any  of  the  great  inventions  which  have  placed  modern  society  so 
far  above  the  ancients.  They  greatly  aggregated  and  improved  the 
details  of  knowledge,  but  discovered  none  of  the  fundamental  solu- 
tions which  have  totally  changed  the  scientific  world.  At  the 
needful  moment,  a  new  system  came  suddenly  into  existence,  and 
spread  rapidly  from  the  Indus  to  the  Tagus,  under  the  victorious 
crescent.  Apparently  indigenous  in  every  clime,  its  monuments 
arose  in  India,  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  among  the 
Moors  in  Spain.  At  Bagdad  and  Cairo,  Jerusalem  and  Cordova, 
Arabian  taste  and  skill  flourished  in  all  their  magnificence.  It  is 
said  that  no  nation  of  Asia,  Africa,  or  Europe,  either  ancient  or 
modern,  has  possessed  a  code  of  rural  regulations  more  wise,  just, 
and  perfect,  than  that  of  the  Arabians  in  Spain ;  nor  has  any  nation 
ever  been  elevated  by  the  wisdom  of  its  laws,  the  intelligence, 
activity,  and  industry  of  its  inhabitants,  to  a  higher  pitch  of  agri- 
cultural prosperity.  Agriculture  was  studied  by  them  with  that 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  chmate,  the  soil,  and  the  growth  of  plants 
and  animals,  which  can  alone  reduce  empirical  experience  into  a 
science.  Nor  were  the  arts  cultivated  with  less  success,  or  less  en- 
riched by  the  progress  of  natural  philosophy.  What  remains  of  so 
much  glory  ?  Probably  not  ten  persons  living  are  in  a  situation  to 
take  advantage  of  the  manuscript  treasures  which  are  inclosed  in 
the  Hbrary  of  the  Escurial.  Of  the  prodigious  literary  riches  of  the 
Arabians,  what  still  exist  are  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  in  the 
convents  of  the  monks,  or  in  the  royal  collections  of  the  West. 
The  instant  they  had  brought  forward  all  the  wealth  of  the  East, 
and  planted  it  where  by  a  fruitful  amalgamation  great  and  wide 
benefits  could  be  produced,  then  Charles  Martel,  the  hammer^  head- 
ing the  progressive  progeny  of  Japhet,  broke  down  the  might  of 
Shem,  and  repelled  his  off'spring  forever  toward  the  sombre  clomain 
and  fortunes  of  Ham. 

In  this  connection,  we  should  consider  the  use  which  Providence 
made  of  Feudalism,  that  great  military  organization  of  the  middle 
ages.  It  pre-eminently  conduced  to  greater  centralization  and  unity 
among  civilizing  powers.    After  having  destroyed  the  majesty  and 

13* 


298 


LEO  X. 


influence  of  the  Germanic  and  imperial  royalty  whicli  Pepin  and 
Charlemag-ne  had  revived  over  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  world,  it 
rapidly  declined  and  gave  place  ultimately  to  popular  hberty. 
"  Feudality,"  says  Guizot,  has  been  a  first  step  out  of  barbarism — 
the  passage  from  barbarism  to  civilization :  the  most  marked  char- 
acter of  barbarism  is  the  independence  of  the  individual — the  pre- 
dominance of  individualism ;  in  this  state  every  man  acts  as  he 
pleases,  at  his  own  risk  and  peril.  The  ascendancy  of  the  indi- 
vidual will  and  the  struggle  of  indi^ddua]  forces,  such  is  the  great 
fact  of  barbarian  society.  This  fact  was  limited  and  opposed  by  the 
establishment  of  the  feudal  system  of  government.  The  influence 
alone  of  territorial  and  hereditary  property  rendered  the  individual 
will  more  fixed  and  less  ordered ;  barbarism  ceased  to  be  wander- 
ing ;  and  was  followed  by  a  first  step,  a  surpassing  step  toward 
civilization." 

Feudalism  engendered  new  institutions,  and  they  entered 
deeply  into  the  spirit  of  progress.  Such  were,  for  example,  the 
Court  of  Peers  and  the  Establishments  of  St.  Louis,  wherein  the 
first  trial  was  made  toward  a  uniform  legislation  for  the  whole 
nation.  The  Crusades  form  also  a  conspicuous  feature  in  the 
political  activity  of  the  Japhetic  nations  during  the  middle  ages. 
The  great  movement  that  induced  western  Europe  to  rush  to  the 
East  had,  by  no  means,  the  expected  results  ;  yet  its  consequences 
became  numerous  and  beneficial.  Oppressing  Shem  was  repulsed 
in  a  new  direction,  and  great  wealth  of  science  was  attained  through 
his  avaricious  and  violent  hands.  Thus  the  turbulent  energy  of 
the  mihtary  classes,  which  threatened  the  progress  of  civilization, 
was  exhausted  in  a  distant  land ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  different 
races  of  Europe  were  made  to  know  each  other  better,  and  to  banish 
all  mental  hostility,  by  uniting  in  one  uniform  devotion  to  a  lofty 
design.  Another  great  consequence  of  the  Crusades  was  tlie 
change  of  territorial  property,  the  sale  of  the  estates  of  the  nobles, 
and  th'eir  division  among  a  great  number  of  smaller  proprietors. 
Hence  the  feudal  aristocracy  was  weakened,  and  the  lower  orders 
arose  with  acquired  immunities,  ennobled  by  the  spirit  of  independ- 
ence, and  protected  by  municipal  laws. 

To  excel  in  arms,  not  in  arts,  was  the  ambition  of  the  crusading 
knights ;  and  if  they  gazed  for  a  while  with  stupid  amazement 


SCIENCE.  299 

upon  the  classic  treasures  of  the  East,  it  was  only  to  calculate  the 
vastness  of  their  booty,  and  to  collect  force  for  the  campaign. 
Blind  frenzy  often  characterized  the  instruments,  but  infinite  wisdom 
v/as  in  the  purpose  which  governed  them.  The  Crusades  con- 
tributed to  the  stability  of  governments,  the  organization  of  institu- 
tions, the  cultivation  of  arts,  the  emancipation  of  thought,  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  variours  realms  of  science.  Had  they  not 
accomplished  the  needful  preparation,  under  the  guidance  of  Provi- 
dence, the  influx  of  literature  into  Europe  consequent  upon  the  foil 
of  Constantinople  would  have  been  worse  than  in  vain.  It  was, 
therefore,  wisely  ordained  that  these  romantic  expeditions  should 
not  be  occasions  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  which  would 
transcend  the  capacities  of  its  agents ;  but  of  preparatory  changes 
fitted  to  facilitate  the  adaptation  and  profitable  application  of 
eastern  elements,  when,  on  the  vast  expanse  of  the  West,  the  full 
time  should  arrive  for  them  to  be  completely  introduced.  The 
Crusades  tended  to  confirm  and  extend  pre-existing  impressions  ;  to 
import  rather  than  to  originate  knowledge.  For  any  considerable 
proficiency  in  literature  or  art,  unknown  to  pilgrims  in  the  East,  we 
search  in  vain  previous  to  the  fifteenth  century ;  but,  as  we  have 
seen,  their  importations  of  scientific  elements  were  neither  few  nor 
small.  E  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  were  the  age  of  the 
Crusades,  the  following  two  were  not  less  the  age  of  improvement 
growing  out  of  the  conflicts  in  Palestine.  They  were  perpetuated 
as  the  popular  watchword  of  chivalry  and  theme  of  romance,  till 
Tasso  embodied  the  thriUing  annals  in  his  immortal  poem,  which 
even  in  his  age  ceased  not  to  glow  in  the  common  mind.  Nor  was  the 
fourteenth  century  in  the  least  a  vacuum  between  the  Crusades  and 
the  revival  of  literature  and  science  ;  it  was  but  slightly  productive 
in  original  material,  but  its  spirit  was  permeating,  and  formed  a 
necessary  link  between  cause  and  efi'ect,  be  the  connection  however 
remote.  Such  is  the  golden  thread  which  extends  through  all  the 
web  of  passing  events,  leading  on  to  the  accompHshment  of  one 
grand  design.  In  like  manner,  minstrels  formed  an  integrant  part 
of  the  Crusade  retinue,  by  whose  happy  interposition  a  more  than 
imaginary  union  was  formed  between  martial  exploits  and  poetical 
conceptions.  Thenceforth  the  recollection  of  those  enthusiastic 
adventures  summoned  up  a  train  of  highly  roniantic  associations, 


300  LEO  X. 

* 

by  whiicli  the  ideal  world  was  greatly  enlarged  and  peopled  with 
new  orders  of  captivating  creatures,  capable  of  an  endless  series  of 
fruitful  suggestions.  Furthermore,  the  occupation  of  the  eastern 
empire  was  productive  of  much  advantage  to  the  mental  culture  of 
the  West.  Persecuted  scholars  sought  refuge  and  employment 
beyond  the  Alps,  where  they  repaid  the  hospitahty  they  received 
with  such  wisdom  as  they  possessed. 

The  Saracenic  conquests  in  Spain  brought  iu  vast  stores  of  ori- 
ental knowledge,  and  frequent  intercourse  with  that  land,  and  with 
Palestine,  for  devotional  or  commercial  purposes,  tended  greatly  to 
increase  the  treasure,  and  a  taste  for  its  enjoyment.  But  Arabian 
literature  was  a  forced  plant  in  Europe,  and  was  as  transient  in  its 
bloom  as  it  was  unnatural  in  its  maturity.  Some  traces  of  a  more 
substantial  cultivation,  however,  were  yet  extant  within  the  walls 
of  Bagdad,  and  thence  the  crusaders  secured  whatever  could  be 
advantageously  employed.  But  the  fire  of  inventive  genius,  ex- 
pressed in  literary  and  scientific  research,  which  once  characterized 
the  Arabians,  had  passed  away ;  the  seeds  of  preliminary  culture 
had  been  sown,  and  their  mission  ended  with  the  predestined  work 
of  their  hands.  The  arts  and  sciences  of  the  Arabians  were  as 
unique  as  their  authors ;  too  practical  to  be  elegant,  and  too  fanci- 
ful for  ordinary  use.  To  their  skill  in  medicine,  and  the  exactness 
of  aiithmetic,  they  added  the  vagueness  of  the  talisman  and  horo- 
scope. Astronomy  was  lost  in  astrology,  chemistry  in  alchymy, 
and  medicine  in  empiricism.  But  amid  the  darkness  of  their 
errors  dwelt  gleams  of  scientific  light  superior  to  any  the  world  had 
yet  seen.  The  principal  utility  lay  in  the  fact  that  these  dim  inti- 
mations prompted  western  Europe  to  break  through  habitual  asso- 
ciations in  matters  of  taste  and  knowledge,  and  rendered  her  the 
instrument  of  her  own  intellectual  resuscitation,  by  exciting  an  ardor 
in  mental  pursuits  hitherto  unknown. 

The  crusades  happily  exhausted  the  military  spirit  of  Europe,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  advancement  in  the  arts  of  peace.  This  done, 
the  decline  of  the  feudal  system  was  hastened  by  the  necessity  of 
meeting  the  enormous  expenses  thereby  incurred.  Many  baronial 
estates  were  consequently  sold,  and  thus  by  degrees  were  abolished 
those  impediments  which  had  long  been  adverse  to  all  the  varied 
fonns  of  culture  by  which  the  afflictions  of  man  are  mitigated,  or 


SCIENCE. 


301 


his  toils  abridged.  The  great  evil  which  then  required  to  be  abol- 
ished had  given  strength  to  a  greater  good  that  was  to  succeed ;  the 
commerce  which  was  mainly  created  to  carry  supplies  to  the  cru- 
saders, was  ready,  on  the  decline  of  martial  renown,  to  go  still  fur- 
ther in  search  of  a  new  world,  or  to  hold  mercantile  speculations 
with  the  remotest  regions  of  the  old.  Consequent  upon  the  facihties 
and  refinements  of  navigation,  followed  all  those  arts  of  utility  and 
convenience  by  which  the  productions  of  nature  are  applied  or  im- 
proved. The  arts  of  -Reaving  and  dyeing,  the  perfection  of  paper 
and  the  press,  as  well  as  gunpowder  and  the  compass,  were  the  re- 
sults of  quickened  industry  and  enlarged  commerce.  All  great 
civilizing  powers  then  attained  a  simultaneous  and  distinct  culmina- 
tion over  a  new  field  and  under  brighter  auspices,  when  each  de- 
partment of  progressive  pursuit,  the  commercial,  the  literary,  and 
the  miUtary,  was  furnished,  at  the  fall  of  the  feudal  system,  with 
its  own  peculiar  instrument  of  invincible  conquest. 

Bearing  in  mind  that  Charles  Martel,  Peter  the  Hermit,  Rich- 
ard of  the  Lion  Heart,  and  John  Sobieski,  with  their  mighty  co- 
agents  in  the  great  preparatory  work  above  described,  all  arose  on 
the  western  edge  of  the  field  and  age  we  are  now  exploring,  let  us 
proceed  briefly  to  notice  the  still  grander  developments  which  fol- 
lowed theftupon. 

The  westward  track  on  high  was  determined  by  the  early  astrono- 
mers of  Egypt.  Thales,  the  father  of  Greek  astronomy,  made  great 
advances  upon  the  speculations  he  derived  from  the  Egyptians,  and 
expounded  them  in  his  own  country.  A  scholar  of  his  was  the 
first  person  who  pointed  out  the  obliquity  of  the  circle  in  which  the 
sun  moves  among  the  stars,  and  thus  "  opened  the  gate  of  nature." 
Certainly  he  who  had  a  clear  view  of  that  path  in  the  celestial  sphere, 
made  that  first  step  which  led  to  all  the  rest.  But  when  Greek 
science  fell  with  Ptolemy,  there  was  apparently  no  further  advance 
till  the  rise  of  Copernicus.  During  this  interval  of  thirteen  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  as  before  stated,  the  principal  cultivators  of  astronom- 
ical science  were  the  Arabians,  who  won  their  attainments  from  the 
Greeks  whom  they  conquered,  and  from  whom  the  conquerors  of 
western  Europe  again  received  back  their  treasure  when  the  love 
of  science  and  the  capacity  for  its  use  had  been  suflSciently  awak- 
ened in  their  minds.    In  mechanics,  also,  no  marked  advancement 


302 


LEO  X. 


was  made  from  Archimedes  till  the  time  of  Galileo  and  Stevinus. 
The  same  was  true  of  hydrostatics,  the  fundamental  problems  of 
which  were  solved  by  the  same  great  teacher,  whose  principles  re- 
mained unpui'sued  till  the  age  of  Leo  X.  began  to  give  perfection 
to  the  true  Archimedean  form  of  science.  As  early  as  Euclid, 
mathematicians  drew  their  conclusions  respecting  light  and  vision 
by  the  aid  of  geometry ;  as,  for  instance,  the  convergence  of  rays 
which  fall  on  a  concave  epeculum.  But,  down  to  a  late  period,  the 
learned  maintained  that  seeing  is  exercised  by  rays  proceeding 
from  the  eye,  not  to  it ;  so  little  was  the  real  truth  of  optical  sci- 
ence understood.  In  this  respect,  as  in  most  others,  it  was  attempted 
to  explain  the  kind  of  causation  in  which  scientific  action  origin- 
ates, rather  than  to  define  the  laws  by  which  the  process  is  con- 
trolled. 

In  the  darkest  period  of  human  history,  astronomy  was  the 
Ararat  of  human  reason  ;  but  it  became  especially  the  support  and 
rallying  point  of  the  scientific  world,  when  intellect  at  large  was 
astir  to  investigate  the  new  wonders  which  rose  to  view  with 
the  efi"ulgent  noon  of  the  middle  age.  Alphonso,  king  of  Castile,  in 
the  year  1252,  corrected  the  astronomical  tables  of  Ptolemy;  and 
Copernicus,  of  Thorn,  revived  the  true  solar  system,  about  1530. 
Tycho  Brahe  and  Longomontanus  brought  forward  opjJbsing  sys- 
tems, but  which  were  soon  rejected.  Kepler,  soon  after,  gave  the 
first  analysis  of  planetary  motions,  and  discovered  those  laws  on 
which  rests  the  theory  of  universal  gravitation.  Gahleo  advocated 
the  Copernican  system  ;  and  by  the  aid  of  one  of  the  first  telescopes, 
discovered  the  satellites  of  Jupiter.  Hygens  discovered  Saturn's 
ring,  and  fourth  satellite  ;  and  four  others  were  soon  after  noticed 
•  by  Cassini.  Thus  was  the  great  secret  of  the  sidereal  universe  read, 
its  movements  comprehended,  and  the  glories  thereof  proclaimed, 
while  emancipated  and  sublimated  thought,  from  the  loftiest  throne 
of  observation  began  forever  to  soar  aloft. 

As  a  ray  of  light  became  the  conductor  of  mind  upward  into 
infinite  space,  so  a  bit  of  gray  stone  projected  the  invisible  bridge 
which  spans  from  continent  to  continent,  and  makes  the  path  over 
trackless  oceans  plain  as  a  broad  highway.  The  properties  of  this 
wonderful  mineral  were  not  unknown  to  the  ancients,  who,  Pliny 
says,  gave  the  name  "  Magnet"  to  the  rock  near  Magnesia,  in  Asia 


SCIENCE. 


303 


Minor ;  and  the  poet  Hesiod  also  makes  use  of  the  term  "  magnet 
stone."  The  compass  was  employed  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  the  time  of  Ptolemy,  in  the  construction  of  the  magnetic 
carriage  of  the  emperor  Tsing-wang ;  but  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
were  completely  ignorant  of  the  needle's  pointing  toward  the  north, 
and  never  used  it  for  the  purpose  of  navigation.  Before  the  third 
crusade,  the  knowledge  of  the  use  of  the  compass  for  land  purposes 
had  been  obtained  from  the  East,  and  by  the  year  1269  it  was 
common  in  Europe.  But  as  the  time  approached  when  God  would 
advance,  by  mightier  strides  than  before,  the  work  of  civilization, 
he  discovered  the  nations  one  to  another,  through  the  agency  of  a 
tiny  instrument,  then  first  made  to  vibrate  on  the  broadest  sublu- 
nary element,  and  the  throne  of  grandest  power.  The  discovery  of 
the  polarity  of  the  magnet,  and  the  birth  of  scientific  navigation 
resulting  therefrom,  was  as  simple  as  it  was  providential.  Some 
curious  persons  were  amusing  themselves  by  making  swim  in  a 
basin  of  water  a  loadstone  suspended  on  a  piece  of  cork.  When 
left  at  liberty,  they  observed  it  point  to  the  north.  The  discovery 
of  that  fact  soon  changed  the  aspect  of  the  whole  world.  This  in- 
vention, which  is  claimed  by  the  Neapolitans  to  have  been  made  by 
one  of  their  citizens  about  the  year  1302,  and  by  the  Venetians  as 
having  been  introduced  by  them  from  the  East,  about  1260,  led  to 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World  by  Columbus,  in  1492.  When 
the  mariner's  compass  was  needed,  it  was  produced,  and  from  the 
most  western  port  of  the  Old  World,  mind  shot  outward  forever ! 
Like  the  relation  between  the  earth's  axis  and  the  auspicious  star 
which  attracts  the  eye  of  the  wanderer,  and  shows  the  North  in  the 
densest  wilderness  or  on  the  widest  waste,  so  from  eternity  the 
magnetic  influence  had  reference  to  the  business  of  navigation,  and 
the  true  application  of  this  arrived  at  the  destined  moment,  when, 
in  connection  with  correlative  events,  in  like  manner  prepared, 
it  would  produce  the  greatest  good.  After  eastern  talent  had 
proved  the  form  of  earth,  western  genius  discovered  the  vastness  of 
oceanic  wealth.  The  Pillars  of  Hercules  were  passed  by  the  great 
adventurers  at  sea  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  trophies  were  won 
richer  by  far  than  ever  graced  the  triumphs  of  an  Alexander  on 
shore.  The  works  of  creation  were  doubled,  and  every  kingdom 
forced  its  treasures  upon  man's  intellect,  along  with  the  strongest 


304 


LEO  X. 


inducements  to  improve  recent  sciences  as  well  as  ancient  litera- 
tures, for  the  widest  and  most  beneficent  practical  ends. 

The  style  of  working  with  Providence  is,  to  attain  some  grand 
result,  compatibly  with  ten  thousand  remote  and  subordinate  inter- 
ests. One  yet  higher  and  more .  comprehensive  instrumentality 
was  requisite  to  garner  all  the  past,  emioble  the  present,  and  em'ich 
the  future,  and  at  the  fitting  moment  for  its  appearance  and  use, 
the  press  stood  revealed. 

Though  the  Chinese  never  carried  the  art  of  writing  to  its  legiti- 
mate development  in  the  creation  of  a  perfect  phonetijc  alphabet, 
they  yet  preceded  all  other  nations  in  the  discovery  of  a  mode  of 
rapidly  multiplying  writings  by  means  of  piinting,  which  was  first 
practiced  by  Fung-taou  as  early  as  four  centuries  before  its  inven- 
tion in  Europe.  Beyond  that  first  step  the  old  East  never  ad- 
vanced ;  there  each  page  of  a  book  is  still  printed  from  an  entire 
block  cut  for  the  occasion,  having  no  idea  of  the  new  western  sys- 
tem of  movable  types.  What  astrology  was  to  astronomy,  alchemy 
to  chemistry,  and  the  search  for  the  universal  panacea  to  the  system 
of  scientific  medicine,  the  crude  process  of  block-printing  was  to  the 
perfected  press.  Engraved  wooden  plates  were  re-invented  by 
Coster,  at  Harlaem,  as  early  as  1430 ;  but  the  great  invention  of 
typography  is  accredited  to  Guttenberg,  who  was  assisted  by 
Schoeffer  and  Faust.  This  occurred  in  1440;  and  stereotype 
printing,  from  cast  metallic  plates,  is  due  to  Vander-Mey,  of  Hol- 
land, who  first  matured  it  about  1690. 

The  time  had  come  when  men  were  required  to  comprehend  the 
ancients,  in  order  to  go  beyond  them  ;  and  at  the  needful  crisis, 
printing  was  given  to  disseminate  all  precious  originals  throughout 
the  world,  in  copies  innumerable.  Had  the  gift  been  bestowed  at 
an  earher  period,  it  would  have  been  disregarded  or  forgotten,  from 
the  want  of  materials  on  which  to  be  employed ;  and  had  it  been 
much  longer  postponed,  it  is  probable  that  many  works  of  the 
highest  order,  and  most  desirable  to  be  multiplied,  would  have  been 
totally  lost.  Coincident  with  this  most  conservative  invention,  was 
the  destruction  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  East.  In  the  year 
1453,  Constantinople  was  captured  by  the  Turks,  and  the  encour- 
agement which  had  been  shown  to  literature  and  science  at  Flor- 
ence, induced  many  learned  Greeks  to  seek  shelter  and  employment 


\ 


SCIENCE.  805 

in  that  city.  Thus,  the  progressive  races  were  favored  with  multi- 
plied facilities  for  gathering  and  diffusing  those  floods  of  scientific 
illumination  vouchsafed  to  deliver  from  the  fantasies  that  had 
hitherto  peopled  the  world — from  the  prejudices  that  had  held  the 
human  mind  in  thrall.  When  Guttenberg  raised  the  first  proof- 
sheet  from  movable  types,  the  Mosaic  record — "  God  said,  let  there 
be  light,  and  light  was" — flashed  upon  earth  and  heaven  with  un- 
precedented glory,  and  that  light  of  intellect  must  shoot  outward, 
upward,  and  abroad  forever !  It  was  not  a  lucky  accident,  but  the 
golden  fruit  of  omniscient  design,  an  invention  made  with  a  perfect 
consciousness  of  its  power  and  object,  to  congregate  once  isolated 
inquirei's  and  teachers  beneath  one  temple,  wherein  divine  aspira- 
tions might  unite  and  crown  with  success  all  the  scattered  and 
divided  efforts  for  extending  the  empire  of  love  and  science  over  the 
whole  civilized  earth. 

On  the  banks  of  the  same  river  Rhine,  where  printing  first 
attained  a  practical  use  in  the  hands  of  a  soldier,  the  discovery  of 
gunpowder  was  made  by  a  priest.  Its  properties  were  obscurely 
known  long  before  the  crusades,  but  are  said  to  have  been  first 
traced  in  their  real  nature  by  Berthold  Schwartz,  and  were  made 
known  in  1336,  ten  years  before  cannon  appeared  in  the  field  of 
Crecy.  Small  arms  were  unknown  until  nearly  two  centuries  after- 
ward, and  were  first  used  by  the  Spaniards,  about  the  year  1521. 
Fortified  with  this  new  power,  Cortez,  with  a  handful  of  soldiers, 
was  able  to  conquer  the  natives  of  Mexico,  the  most  civilized  and 
powerful  of  all  the  nations  then  on  this  western  continent.  From 
the  hour  when  the  blundering  monk  was  blown  up  by  his  own  ex- 
periment, gross  physical  strength  was  surrendered  to  expert  mihtary 
science ;  and  gunpowder  has  increasingly  exalted  intellect  in  the 
conduct  of  war,  not  less  than  in  the  triumphs  of  peace. 

The  history  of  civilization  is  written  in  the  triumphs  which  are 
won  by  scientific  invention  over  the  physical  laws  of  nature,  and 
over  the  mental  infirmities  of  inferior  human  tribes.  These  multi- 
ply at  points  in  space,  and  periods  of  time,  most  happily  adapted 
to  promote  the  progress  and  welfare  of  mankind.  The  manufacture 
of  glass  windows,  chimneys,  clocks,  paper,  the  maiiner's  compass, 
fire-arms,  watches,  and  saw-mills,  with  the  process  of  printing  with 
movable  types,  and  the  use  of  the  telescope,  comprise  nearly  all  the 


306 


LEO  X. 


inventions  of  importance  which  were  made  during  the  lapse  of 
twelve  centuries ;  all  the  best  of  which  appeared  near  the  close  of 
the  mediaeval  period,  and  were  not  a  little  indebted  to  information 
obtained  from  Mohammedans  through  the  crusades.   In  the  gradual 
development  of  human  destiny  occur  flourishing  periods,  when  nu- 
merous men  of  genius  are  clustered  together  with  mutual  depend- 
ence, and  in  a  narrow  space.    For  instance,  Tycho,  the  founder 
of  the  new  measuring  system  of  astronomy,  Kepler,  Galileo,  and 
Lord  Bacon  of  Verulam,  were  cotemporaries ;  and  all  of  them,  ex- 
cept the  first,  hved  to  see  the  works  of  Descartes  and  Fermat.  The 
true  celestial  system  was  discovered  by  Copernicus  in  the  same  year 
in  which  Columbus  died,  fourteen  years  after  the  grandest  mundane 
discoveiy  was  made.    The  sudden  appearance  and  disappearance 
of  three  new  stars  which  occurred  in  1572, 1600,  and  1604,  excited 
the  wonder  of  vast  assemblies  of  people,  all  over  Europe,  while 
humble  artizans,  in  an  obscure  corner  thereof,  were  constructing  an 
instrument  which  should  at  once  calm  their  fears  and  excite  the 
most  absorbing  astonishment.    The  telescope  was  discovered  in 
Holland,  in  1608,  and  two  years  after  the  immortal  Florentine  as- 
tronomer began  to  shine  prominently  above  all  other  leaders  of 
subhme  science.    Galileo  was  the  Huss  of  mediaeval  progress,  if  it 
be  not  better  to  call  him  the  Columbus.    The  day  of  predestined 
freedom  rose  over  his  cradle,  and  his  life-struggle  struck  the  hour. 
His  hand  kindled  brighter  lamps  in  the  great  temple  of  knowledge, 
and,  sublime  priest  of  true  evangelism  as  he  was,  it  was  fitting  that 
his  place  and  mission  were  so  central,  when  he  held  aloft  supremest 
light.    We  love  to  read  the  history  of  his  mighty  spirit,  and  con- 
template the  serene  old  man,  blinded  by  gazing  at  stars,  bereaved 
of  his  pious  daughter,  dragged  to  the  dungeon  of  the  Inquisition, 
and  there  visited  by  the  future  secretary  of  the  English  Common- 
wealth.   In  his  own  great  maxim,  that  "  we  can  not  teach  tnith 
to  another,  we  can  only  help  him  to  find  it,"  is  contained  the 
germ  of  all  true  wisdom,  and  the  foundation  of  those  future  in- 
ductions which  were  to  underlie  a  new  age  and  revolutionize  the 
world. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  was  born  the  same  year  Gahleo  died;  and 
while  we  do  not  forget  that  Florence  was  the  great  centre  of  science, 
as  of  literature  and  art  during  the  age  of  Leo  X.,  let  us  glance  more 


SCIENCE. 


307 


particularly  at  this  point  to  tlie  results  which  so  constantly  tend(jd 
toward  the  western  extreme. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  many  of  the  developments  which 
illuminated  the  night  of  ignorance,  broke  the  yoke  of  superstition, 
gave  to  doubt  a  salutary  force,  and  redoubled  the  acute  delights  of 
scientific  investigation.  The  wonders  of  remote  hemispheres  were 
simultaneously  unfolded,  when  Columbus  and  Vasco  de  Gama,  at 
one  stroke,  overthrew  the  old  geological  and  geographical  systems. 
Before  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  few  of  the  mysteries  of 
nature  were  left  unvailed,  and  all  that  remained  for  posterity  was 
the  work  of  enlarged  classification,  and  the  perfection  of  each  sepa- 
rate science.  The  progress  made  was,  in  fact,  immense.  As  the 
botanic  gardens,  at  that  time  planted  in  the  new  Italian  universities, 
Yi^re  fragrant  with  a  thousand  exotics,  unknown  to  antiquity,  so 
the  softest  fabrics,  and  most  delicious  fruits,  recalled  to  memory 
the  concurrent  events  of  Providence,  which  for  a  long  time  made 
Venice  and  Genoa  the  emporia  of  mediaeval  traflSc.  Every  luxury 
of  the  old  world,  which  commerce  converted  into  a  comfort  for  the 
new,  is  a  memento  of  the  discoveries  which  guided  navigation  in 
the  remotest  seas,  and  carried  European  adventurers  so  far  as  to 
make  the  treasures  of  the  entire  globe  our  own.  The  science  of 
political  economy  was  also  the  offspring  of  that  increased  commer- 
cial activity  which  has  so  much  affected,  the  character  of  nations 
as  to  render  new  combinations  of  philosophy  necessary  for  their 
direction.  We  only  need  allude  to  the  fact  that  the  free  cities  of 
Italy  were  compelled  to  yield  the  leadership  in  commerce  to  freer 
Holland,  and  that  the  sceptre  of  the  seas  was  finally  won  by  En- 
gland ;  and  that  the  first  published  theory  of  political  economy  was 
given  to  the  world  in  Raleigh's  essay,  which  Quesnoy  long  after 
attempted  in  vain  to  refute. 

Agriculture  was  greatly  improved  in  England  under  the  early 
civilizers  of  the  Anglo-Norman  race.  Immediately  after  the  con- 
quest, many  thousand  husbandmen,  from  the  fertile  plains  of  Flan- 
ders and  Normandy,  obtained  farms,  and  employed  the  same  meth- 
ods of  cultivation  which  had  proved  so  successful  in  their  native 
country.  The  ecclesiastics  rivaled  the  secular  ranks  in  this  noble 
work.  It  was  so  much  the  custom  of  the  monks  to  assist  in  open 
fields,  especially  at  seed-time,  the  hay  season,  and  harvest,  that  the 


308 


LEO  X. 


famous  a  Becket,  even  after  he  was  Arclibisliop  of  Canterbury, 
used  to  sally  out  with  the  inmates  of  the  convents,  and  take  part 
with  them  in  all  rural  occupations.  It  was  decreed  by  the  General 
Council  of  Lateran,  that  "  all  presbyters,  clerks,  monks,  converts, 
pilgrims,  and  peasants,  when  they  are  engaged  in  the  labors  of 
husbandry,  shall,  together  with  the  cattle  in  their  plows,  and  the 
seed  which  they  carry  into  the  field,  enjoy  perfect  security ;  and 
that  all  who  molest  and  interrupt  them,  if  they  do  not  desist  when 
they  have  been  admonished,  shall  be  excommunicated."  Nearly 
all  the  finest  garden-lands  in  England  were  redeemed  from  the 
worst  natural  condition  by  the  sagacious  and  industrious  Benedictine 
religionists.  The  science  they  applied  in  cathedral  building  is  won- 
derful to  the  wisest  engineers  of  our  own  age,  and  their  taste  in 
landscape-gardening  has  ever  been  the  best  in  the  world.  Tl^ir 
ruined  abbeys  stand  in  the  loveliest  positions,  and  all  their  great 
churches,  and  colleges,  unlike  the  continental,  are  encompassed  by 
trees,  and  exquisitely  decorated  grounds.  Ingulfus,  abbot  of  Croy- 
land,  supplies  an  early  and  characteristic  instance  of  this  general 
disposition.  Richard  de  Rules,  director  of  Deeping,  he  tells  us,  be- 
ing fond  of  agriculture,  obtained  permission  to  inclose  a  large  por- 
tion of  marsh,  for  the  purpose  of  separate  pasture,  excluding  the 
"Welland  by  a  strong  dike,  upon  which  he  erected  a  town,  and  ren- 
dered those  stagnant  fens  a  garden  of  Eden.  Others  followed  their 
example,  and  divided  the  marshes  among  them ;  when  some  con- 
verting them  to  tillage,  some  reserving  them  for  meadow,  others 
leaving  them  in  pasture,  found  a  rich  soil  for  every  purpose. 

Evelyn  records  how  four  kinds  of  grapes  were  early  brought  from 
Italy,  with  a  choice  species  of  white  figs,  and  were  naturalized  in 
his  vapory  clime.  The  learned  Linacre  first  brought  the  damask- 
rose  from  the  south ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  royal  fruit  gardens 
were  enriched  with  plums  of  three  different  kinds.  Edward 
Grindal,  afterward  primate  at  Canterbury,  returning  from  exile, 
translated  thither  the  medicinal  plant  of  the  tamarisk.  The  first 
oranges  were  grown  by  the  Carew  family,  in  Surrey ;  and  the  cherry 
orchards  of  Kent  were  commenced  about  Sittingbourne.  British 
commerce  brought  the  cuiTant-bush  from  the  island  of  Zante,  and 
lettuce  from  Cos.  Cherries  came  from  Cerasuntis,  in  Pontus  ;  the 
peach,  from  Persia ;  the  chestnut  from  Castagna,  a  town  of  Mag- 


SCIENCE. 


309 


nesia  ;  and  the  damson  plum  from  Damascus.  Lucullus,  after  the 
war  with  Mithridates,  introduced  cherries  from  Pontus  into  Italy, 
where  they  were  rapidly  propagated,  and,  twenty-six  years  after- 
ward, Pliny  relates,  the  cherry-tree  passed  over  into  Britain.  Thus 
a  victory  gained  by  a  Roman  consul  over  a  remote  antagonist,  with 
whom  it  would  seem  that  the  western  isle  could  not  have  the  re- 
motest interest,  was  the  real  cause  of  her  being  ultimately  enriched. 
Such  is  the  law  of  providential  dealing,  and  such  are  the  means  and 
the  path  it  pursues.  In  1609,  Shakspeare  planted  his  celebrated 
mulberiy-tree,  a  production  before  almost  unknown.  Since  that 
epoch,  vast  treasures  of  literature,  art,  and  science  have  accumulated 
on  that  soil,  but  few  new  germs  have  originated  there. 

Nearly  all  the  roots  of  England's  maturest  science  nm  back  into 
the  deepest  mediaeval  night.  A  worthy  associate  with  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Albert  the  Great,  and  Michael  Scot,  was  the  celebrated 
Roger  Bacon,  a  native  of  Somersetshire,  who  flourished  in  the  thir- 
teenth century.  This  Franciscan  monk  seems  to  have  been  a 
"  Phoenix  of  intellects"  in  the  fundamental  education  of  the  English 
race,  "  an  old  and  new  library  of  all  that  was  good  in  science."  He 
greatly  established  and  extended  the  natural  sciences,  by  means  of 
mathematics,  and  the  production  of  phenomena  in  the  way  of  ex- 
periments. To  him  especially  credit  is  due,  that  the  influence 
which  he  exercised  upon  the  mode  of  treating  natural  studies,  was 
more  beneficial  and  of  more  lasting  efiect  than  the  discoveries  them- 
selves which  have  been  attributed  to  him.  Says  Humboldt,  "  He 
roused  himself  to  independent  thought,  and  strongly  blamed  the 
blind  trust  in  the  authority  of  the  schools :  yet  he  was  so  far  from 
neglecting  to  search  into  Grecian  antiquity,  that  he  prizes  the  study 
of  comparative  philology,  the  application  of  mathematics,  and  the 
*  Scientia  Experimentalis,'  to  which  he  devotes  a  particular  section 
in  bis  great  work.  One  of  the  popes,  Clement  IV.,  defended  and 
patronized  him ;  but  two  others,  Nicholas  H.  and  TV".,  accused  him 
of  magic,  and  cast  him  into  prison,  and  thus  he  experienced  the 
reverses  of  fortune  which  have  been  felt  by  great  men  of  all  times. 
He  was  acquainted  with  the  Optics  of  Ptolemaeus  and  the  Almagest. 
As  he  always  calls  BQpparchus  *  Abraxis,'  like  the  Arabs,  we  may 
conclude  that  he  had  only  made  use  of  a  Latin  translation  of  the 
Arabic  work.    Besides  Bacon's  chemical  investigations  respecting 


310 


LEO  X. 


combustible  and  explosive  mixtures,  his  theoretical  optical  works 
upon  Perspective,  and  the  position  of  the  focus  in  a  concave  mirror, 
are  the  most  important." 

It  is  interesting  to  contemplate  this  thoughtful  recluse  prosecuting 
lofty  studies  in  his  solitary  cell  at  Oxford.  Around  him  was  rising 
that  greatest  of  western  universities,  scarcely  one  college  of  which, 
according  to  its  historian,  Doctor  Ingram,  can  be  considered  a  royal 
foundation.  Great  commoners,  architects  of  their  own  fortunes, 
like  the  butcher's  son,  Wolsey,  and  the  poor  stone-mason,  William 
of  Wykcham,  reared  the  amplest  halls,  and  educated  the  mightiest 
minds.  In  the  front  rank  of  these  great  benefactors  of  science 
stood  Roger  Bacon,  greatest  of  his  own  age,  and  projector  of  nearly 
all  that  followed.  His  writings  contain  many  curious  facts  and 
judicious  observations.  From  the  following  statement  it  w^ould 
appear  that  he  anticipated  his  brother  monk  on  the  continent  in 
the  discovery  of  gunpowder :  "  From  saltpetre  and  other  ingre- 
dients," he  says,  "  we  are  able  to  form  a  fire  which  will  burn  to  any 
distance."  And  again,  alluding  to  its  effects,  "  a  small  portion  of 
matter,  about  the  size  of  the  thumb,  properly  disposed,  will  make  a 
tremendous  sound  and  coruscation,  by  which  cities  and  aimies 
might  be  destroyed."  One  df  his  biographers  ascribes  to  him  a 
mechanical  contrivance  which  prepared  the  way  for  the  important 
invention  of  the  air-pump.  In  his  own  words,  we  have  the  follow- 
ing anticipations  of  nearly  all  the  grand  inventions  which  have 
more  recently  changed  the  condition  and  aspect  of  the  scientific 
world :  "  I  will  mention,"  he  says,  "  things  which  may  be  done 
without  the  help  of  magic,  such  as  indeed  magic  is  unable  and 
incapable  of  performing :  for  a  vessel  may  be  so  constructed  as  to 
make  more  way  with  one  man  in  her,  than  another  vessel  well 
manned.  It  is  possible  to  make  a  chariot  which,  without  any 
assistance  of  animals,  shall  move  with  the  irresistible  force  which  is 
ascribed  to  those  scythed  chariots  in  which  the  ancients  fought. 
It  is  possible  to  make  instruments  for  flying,  so  that  a  man  sitting 
in  the  middle  thereof,  and  steering  with  a  kind  of  rudder,  may 
manage  what  is  contrived  to  answer  the  end  of  wings,  so  as  to 
divide  and  pass  through  the  air.  It  is  no  less  possible  to  make  a 
machine  of  a  very  small  size,  and  yet  capable  of  raising  or  sinking 
the  greatest  weights,  which  may  be  of  infinite  use  on  certain  occa- 


SCIENCE. 


311 


sions,  for  by  the  help  of  such  an  instrument  not  above  three  inches 
high,  or  less,  a  man  may  be  able  to  deliver  himself  and  his  com- 
panions out  of  prison,  and  he  and  his  companions  may  descend  at 
pleasure.  Yea,  instruments  may  be  fabricated  by  which  one  man 
shall  draw  a  thousand  men  to  him  by  force  and  against  their  will, 
as  also  machines  which  will  enable  men  to  walk  without  danger  at 
the  bottom  of  seas  and  rivers." 

The  above  possibilities,  as  they  were  suggested  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  have  already  in  good  part  been  realized,  justifying  the 
prophecies  of  a  man  who  was  before  his  age,  but  on  the  course  of 
its  progress.  He  beheld  the  drifting  of  the  great  seas  of  humanity, 
and  knew  not  how  far  they  might  roll,  but  he  was  conscious  that 
forward  they  must  go.  He  was  the  Savonarola  of  his  land  and  age, 
the  martyr  of  science,  who  possessed  his  soul  in  patience,  uttered 
'  his  word,  and  waited,  knowing  that  his  despised  sentence  would 
one  day  be  esteemed  as  of  the  finest  gold.  Mr.  Brande  observes, 
that  one  of  his  principal  works  "  breathes  sentiments  which  would 
do  honor  to  the  most  refined  periods  of  science,  and  in  which  many 
of  the  advantages  likely  to  be  derived  from  the  mode  of  investigation 
insisted  upon  by  his  great  successor  (Chancellor  Bacon)  are  antici- 
pated." This  remark  might  have  been  still  more  prospective,  for 
the  celebrated  French  experimentalist,  Homberg,  availing  himself 
of  some  hints  of  chemical  combinations  suggested  by  Roger  Bacon, 
at  a  much  later  period,  made  some  important  discoveries  in  that 
science. 

As  soon  as  printing  was  perfected  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  it 
was  brought  to  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  and,  in  1474,  the  first 
press  in  England  was  erected  by  Caxton  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
Thus  the  higher  process  supervenes  upon  the  inferior  which  pre- 
pared the  way,  and  supersedes  the  sources  of  its  own  origin  and 
support.  In  the  ancient  Scriptorium  of  the  Abbey,  where  all 
hterature  had  been  transcribed,  and  all  science  then  extant  found 
refuge  till  more  auspicious  times,  was  carried  on  an  art  which  was 
the  embodiment  of  anterior  thought,  and  the  guaranty  of  a  future 
culture  infinitely  intensified  and  enlarged.  As  early  as  1480,  books 
were  printed  at  St.  Albans;  and  in  1525,  there  was  a  translation  of 
Boethius  printed  in  the  monastery  of  Tavistock,  by  Thomas  Richards, 
monk  of  the  same  monastery.    That  the  intercourse  of  Caxton 


312 


LEO  X. 


with  the  Abbot  of  "Westminster  was  on  a  familiar  footing  we  learn 
from  his  own  statement,  in  1490 :  *'  My  Lord  Abbott  of  Westminster 
did  shew  to  me  late  certain  evidences  written  in  old  English,  for  to 
reduce  it  to  our  English  now  used." 

To  receive  the  contributions  of  the  past  and  reduce  them  to  more 
eflBcient  use  in  the  present  and  for  the  future,  is  the  mission  of 
every  agent  of  Providence  like  Caxton,  Roger  Bacon,  or  that  gifted 
son  of  St.  Albans  whose  dust  lies  buried  near  the  venerable  Abbey, 
where  the  second  press  of  old  England  was  set  at  work  within  the 
church,  while  he  thought  and  wrote  without.  Francis  Bacon  was 
the  complement  of  Aristotle.  Both  were  adapted  to  their  respective 
ages,  and  were  requisite  to  each  other.  Had  not  the  gi'eat  Greek 
speculated,  the  greater  Englishman  would  never  have  made  his 
demonstrations.  The  first  developed  the  general  form  of  all  reason- 
ing, and  the  second  made  a  specific  application  of  this  to  the  * 
phenomena  of  matter.  But  the  deductive  mode  is  only  one  of  the 
phases  of  dialectics ;  and  the  Baconians  of  the  present  day  are  much 
in  the  same  position  with  regard  to  moral  science,  that  the  Aris- 
totelians were  in  with  respect  to  matter  science.  A  third  method 
was  necessitated  by  the  superior  worth  of  the  second,  and  the 
nations  at  large  await  the  man  to  come  who  shall  exhaust  the 
whole  doctrine  of  method,  and  this  will  doubtless  be  consummated 
in  the  same  direction  which  scientific  excellence  has  hitherto 
pursued. 


CHAPTER  lY. 


PHILOSOPHY. 

The  era  of  the  subversion  of  the  western  empne,  a.  d.  476,  pre- 
sents a  point  from  which  a  step  forward,  and  a  change  for  the 
better  in  human  affairs,  was  distinctly  marked.  It  was  one  from 
which  we  may  most  advantageously  survey  the  field  of  political  and 
moral  philosophy. 

The  exterminating  swords  of  barbarian  conquerors  left  scarcely  a 
vestige  of  former  systems  behind  them.  A  deluge  of  new  influ- 
ences prevailed,  and  the  moral  aspect  of  earth  was  transformed. 
Men  came  upon  a  broader  stage,  amid  more  expanding  scenes,  and 
were  soon  acting  a  new  character  under  impulses  and  in  situations 
before  unknown.  Standing  on  this  elevation,  we  see  that  old  things 
have  passed  away,  and  all  things  have  become  new ;  mental  pur- 
suits in  general  have  assumed  an  augmented  interest,  and  especially 
is  philosophy  improved  in  its  influence,  accelerated  in  its  progress, 
and  enlarged  in  its  extent.  As  the  gorgeous  but  unsatisfactory 
pictures  of  oriental  mysticism  gave  place  to  the  fervor  and  fluctua- 
tions of  more  intellectual  destinies  in  Greece — gleams  of  grandeur 
and  wide  tracks  of  gloom— and  as  this  in  turn  fell  before  the  grad- 
ual rise,  broad  dominion,  and  fatal  decline  of  mighty  Rome,  so 
the  latter  sank  in  darkness,  but  the  night  of  its  tomb  was  soon  seen 
to  rest  on  a  horizon  of  immortal  day,  which  eventually  rose  to  the 
zenith  with  augmented  splendor.  The  Hjri'cinian  forest  teemed 
with  nascent  states,  and  islands  which  the  empress  of  the  seven 
hills  had  known  only  to  despise,  assumed  an  imposing  attitude  to 
produce  a  language  and  dictate  laws  over  realms  wider  than  Rome 
ever  knew. 

Greek  and  Roman  philosophy  comprised  the  free  eftbrts  of  reason 
to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  first  principles  and  the  laws  of  nature, 

14 


314 


LEO  X, 


without  a  clear  consciousness  of  the  method  most  conducive  to 
such  attainments.  The  philosophy  of  the  middle  ages  endeavored 
to  attain  the  same  end,  but  under  the  influence  of  a  principle  supe- 
rior to  itself,  derived  from  revelation.  In  the  course  of  transitional 
progress,  it  fell  into  a  si^irit  exclusively  dialectic,  whence  it  emerged 
through  fresh  and  independent  exertions  toward  the  discovery  of 
fundamental  principles.  Thenceforth  a  combination  of  all  human 
knowledge,  in  a  more  complete  and  systematic  form,  has  tended 
with  unfaltering  success  to  explore,  found^  and  define  the  principles 
of  philosophy  as  a  science.  This,  like  every  other  element  of 
cotemporaneous  civilization,  had  its  successive  periods  of  origin, 
foundation,  and  development,  stretching  over  a  wide  space,  of  which 
the  twelfth  century  formed  the  middle  line.  Previous  to  that 
epoch,  the  various  elements  were  disengaging  themselves,  and 
entering  into  a  higher,  as  well  as  more  practical  amalgamation, 
which  was  destined  rapidly  to  achieve  the  widest  possible  good. 

The  early  fathers  of  the  Greek  church  went  deeply  into  the  cur- 
rent of  oriental  speculation,  and  they  are  worthy  of  special  research, 
since  so  many  golden  grains  of  philosophy  may  be  picked  up  in 
that  sacred  stream.  It  has  already  been  shown,  that  by  a  range  of 
imaginative  reasoning,  which  soared  far  above  the  world  of  sense 
and  outward  experience,  Plato  sought  a  return  to  the  supreme 
Godhead,  infinitely  exalted  above  all  nature,  deriving  his  chief 
proofs  from  immediate  intuition  and  primeval  revelation,  or  pro- 
found internal  reminiscence.  This  fundamental  tenet  of  the  prior 
existence  of  the  human  soul  was  closely  alHed  to  the  Indian  doc- 
trine of  the  metempsychosis,  and,  regarded  in  a  literal  sense,  must 
be  equally  rejected  by  true  Christian  philosophy.  But  if  we  are  to 
consider  this  Platonic  notion  of  reminiscence  under  a  more  spiritual 
view,  as  the  resuscitation  of  the  consciousness  of  the  divine  image 
implanted  in  our  souls,  or  the  soul's  perception  of  that  image,  this 
theory  would  then  coincide  with  evangelical  doctrine,  and  we  ought 
not  to  wonder  that  this  Platonic  mode  of  thinking  became  the  first 
great  philosophy  of  revelation  which  was  fashioned  and  promul- 
gated in  a  mediaeval  form.  It  was  most  adapted  to  captivate  the 
profoundest  Christian  thinkers,  and  pour  a  sweet  solace  into  their 
aspiring  hearts;  hence,  the  prevalency  of  this  system  in  the 
schools,  until  the  end  of  the  twelfth,  and  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 


PHILOSOPHY. 


315 


teenth  century.  Many  leading  minds  even  believed  that  they  dis- 
covered in  it  the  types  of  their  own  religious  views.  The  symboli- 
cal fancies  of  Timaeus  respecting  physical  phenomena,  were  taken 
up  with  spirit',  and  erroneous  ideas  respecting  the  laws  of  creation 
long  prevailed,  although  the  mathematicians  of  Alexandria  had 
demonstrated  their  fallacies.  JSTevertheless,  under  various  forms,  the 
echo  of  Platonism  was  propagated  from  Augustin  to  Alcuin,  far 
into  the  middle  ages. 

The  philosophy  of  Aristotle  was  based  upon  ample  and  substan- 
tial logic,  and  from  the  beginning  was  a  wonderful  organum^ 
admirably  adapted  to  the  uses  of  scientific  truth.  His  perspica- 
cious, piercing,  and  comprehensive  intellect  reduced  all  the  histor- 
ical and  philosophic  principles  of  preceding  ages  and  of  his  own 
time,  to  the  exactest  system,  and  for  twenty  centuries  he  remained 
the  master-guide.  Considered  merely  as  an  effort  of  unassisted 
reason,  the  ethics  of  Aristotle  have  an  extraordinary  interest ;  but 
as  a  scientific  introduction  to  divine  revelation,  and  in  all  important 
moral  questions,  the  Stagyrite  is  far  from  being  so  valuable  a  guide 
as  Plato.  It  was  an  ominous  gift  to  western  Europe,  when  the 
works  of  Aristotle  were  brought  from  the  East,  translated  into 
Arabic,  and  thence  turned  again  into  Latin  almost  as  obscure. 
The  Christian  philosophers  belonging  to  the  first  period  of  the  mid- 
dle ages,  such  as  Bernard  and  Abelard  of  France,  Anselm,  and 
Scotus  Erigena,  the  cotemporary  of  Alfred  of  England,  were  incom- 
parably more  luminous  and  forcible  than  the  schoolmen  of  succeed- 
ing times,  being  much  more  free  from  idle  logic  and  empty 
subtleties.  Apparently,  it  would  have  been  much  better  if  the 
powerful  emperors  and  potentates  who  patronized  science  had 
brought  away  with  them,  from  the  Latin  empire  at  Constantinople, 
those  philological  treasures  which  there  abounded,  instead  of  fos- 
tering a  universal  and  irresistible  rage  for  the  most  metaphysical  of 
authors,  and  whom  it  was  quite  impossible  for  them  to  comprehend. 
But  the  strange  proceeding  was  overruled  for  the  greatest  benefit. 
The  whole  foundation  of  the  scholastic  philosophy  was  doubtless 
thoroughly  false,  and  inflicted  great  injury,  not  only  on  theology, 
but  on  the  whole  range  of  mediaeval  thought.  But  when  the  evil 
became  most  formidable,  a  mighty  service  was  rendered  to  man- 
kind, when  acute  and  sagacious  men  like  Thomas  Aquinas,  endowed 


316 


LEO  X. 


with  exalted  philosophical  talents,  adopted  the  old  Aristotelian 
rationalism,  and  founded  thereon  a  system  in  which  they  attempted 
to  reconcile  philosophy  with  faith,  and  thus  avert  from  their  age 
the  dangerous  consequences  of  false  dialectics.  This,  however,  was 
no  true  reconciliation,  and  the  rationalism  of  the  middle  age  after- 
ward broke  into  a  violent  collision  with  the  divine  doctrines  to 
which  it  had  been  unnaturally  allied.  But  before  this  extreme  was 
arrived  at,  the  resuscitation  of  a  nobler  rationalism  began,  and  grad- 
ually obtained  the  mastery  over  leading  minds,  producing  a  radical 
change  in  the  whole  spirit  of  literature  and  science.  Philosophy 
passed  through  a  very  important  renovation,  and  its  profoimdest 
votaries  began  to  set  themselves  wholly  free  from  the  authority  of 
Aristotle  in  his  own  department,  and  proceeded  to  the  unfettered 
investigation  of  the  deepest  and  most  solemn  problems.  Their 
main  purpose,  indeed,  was,  as  one  of  them  declared,  to  compare  the 
tenets  of  former  teachers  with  the  original  handwriting  of  God,  the 
world  and  nature. 

The  now  almost  forgotten  contest  between  the  Realists  and 
Nominalists  of  the  middle  ages,  exercised  a  decided  influence  upon 
the  final  establishment  of  the  experimental  sciences.  These  were 
the  two  philosophic  schools  which  labored  respectively  to  bridge  the 
apparently  impassable  "  gap  between  thought  and  actual  existence, 
and  the  relations  between  the  mind  which  discerns,  and  the  objects 
which  are  discerned."  According  to  Humboldt, "  The  Nominalists, 
who  only  admitted  a  subjective  existence  to  belong  to  general  ideas 
in  the  imagination  of  man,  after  many  oscillations,  ultimately  in 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  became  the  victorious  party. 
From  that  great  aversion  to  mere  abstractions,  they  first  arrived  at 
the  necessity  of  experience,  and  of  increasing  the  physical  basis  of 
knowledge.  This  direction  of  their  ideas  had,  at  any  rate,  a  second- 
ary influence  upon  empirical  natural  science ;  but  even  while  the 
views  of  the  Realists  still  prevailed,  the  acquaintance  with  the 
Arabian  literature  had  diff'used  a  love  for  Nature's  works,  in  happy 
contrast  with  the  study  of  theology,  which  otherwise  absorbed 
every  thing.  Thus  w^e  see,  that  in  the  difierent  periods  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  to  which  we  have  been  perhaps  accustomed  to  attrib- 
ute too  great  a  unity  of  character,  in  very  different  courses,  namely, 
in  the  ideal  and  the  experimental  way,  the  great  work  of  distant 


PHILOSOPHY. 


317 


discoveries,  and  the  possibility  of  their  being  of  avail  in  the  exten- 
sion of  the  general  ideas  of  the  earth,  were  gradually  advanced." 

The  Arabians  cultivated  philosophy  with  characteristic  ardor, 
and  founded  upon  it  the  fame  of  many  ingenious  and  erudite  men. 
Al-Farabi,  in  Transoxiana,  died  in  950.  It  is  affirmed  that  he  spoke 
seventy  languages,  wrote  upon  all  the  sciences,  and  collected  them 
into  an  encyclopaedia.  Al-Gazeli  of  Thous,  who  submitted  religion 
to  the  test  of  philosophy,  died  in  1111.  Avicenna,  from  the  vicin- 
ity of  Chyraz,  who  died  in  1037,  was  a  profound  philosopher,  as 
well  as  a  celebrated  physician.  Averrhoes  of  Cordova,  was  the 
most  erudite  commentator  on  the  works  of  Aristotle,  and  died 
in  1198.  The  system  of  the  great  Macedonian  metaphysician  was 
well  fitted  to  the  mathematical  genius  of  the  Arabians,  and  they 
worshiped  him  as  a  sort  of  di^dnity.  •  According  to  their  belief, 
all  philosophy  was  to  be  found  in  his  writings,  and  they  explained 
every  problem  according  to  his  arbitrary  rules.  In  the  preceding 
chapter,  we  have  seen  with  what  success  the  Arabians  cultivated  all 
the  sciences  ;  and  let  us  here  add  that,  while  of  all  their  studies,  phi- 
losophy was  the  one  in  particular  which  penetrated  most  rapidly  into 
the  West,  and  had  the  greatest  influence  in  the  schools  of  Europe,  it 
was  the  one,  in  fact,  the  progress  of  which  was  the  least  real.  The 
ardent  sons  of  Shem  were  more  ingenious  than  profound,  more  ab- 
stract than  practical,  and  attached  themselves  rather  to  the  subtleties 
of  fancy  than  to  the  substantial  ideas  of  reason.  They  jDOssessed  many 
qualities  which  enabled  them  to  dazzle,  but  few  attributes  of  a 
character  adapted  to  instruct.  More  enthusiastic  than  enterprising, 
they  were  willing  to  place  themselves  under  the  supreme  dictation 
of  another,  rather  than  to  feed  their  own  minds  at  the  original 
sources  of  knowledge.  They  gathered  up  much  that  had  been 
produced  by  their  superiors  in  the  East,  and  brought  it  forward  as 
the  nourishment  of  sHll  nobler  races  destined  to  succeed  them ; 
but  they  produced  little  that  was  native  to  themselves,  especially  in 
the  realm  of  philosophy,  and  now  exert  absolutely  no  influence  on 
western  mind. 

The  human  spirit  was  not  less  active  and  indomitable  in  the 
middle  age  than  at  earlier  periods ;  and  although  it  was  placed 
under  the  severest  rehgious  restrictions,  it  still  sought  to  render  to 
itself  an  account  of  its  speculative  belief.    The  more  methodical 


318 


LEO  X. 


system  of  instruction  which  originated  in  the  cloisters,  and  ascend- 
ed thence  to  the  universities,  gave  rise  to  diversified  sects,  whose 
impassioned  conflicts  occasioned  increased  Hberty  of  disquisition. 
For  a  long  time  the  scholastic  philosophy  was  exercised  in  a  circle 
it  did  not  itself  trace,  and  which  it  dared  not  pass  ;  but  meanwhile 
it  was  approaching  emancipation,  and  grew  finally  into  a  bolder 
strength  and  traversed  broader  realms.  Still  it  was  not  thought  in 
that  exact  form  and  absolute  freedom  which  should  characterize 
philosophy,  and  the  pedantic  system  therefore  ended  with  the  age  it 
was  created  to  serve. 

The  scholasticism  which  was  so  marked  a  peculiarity  of  the  age 
of  Leo  X.,  was  the  labor  of  intellect  in  the  service  of  faith,  and  we 
know  its  starting  point,  its  progress,  and  its  end.  It  arose  with  the 
new  society  of  that  formative  era,  and  arrived  at  perfect  dominion 
after  having  been  delivered  from  all  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  civili- 
zation, when  the  soil  of  Europe  had  become  more  firm  and  capable 
of  receiving  the  foundations  upon  which  a  nobler  and  broader 
social  compact  might  arise.  Charlemagne,  who  with  one  hand  ar- 
rested the  Saracens  in  the  South,  and  with  the  other  resisted  the 
barbarians  of  the  JSTorth,  became  the  type  and  leader  of  western 
civilization  in  the  dawn  of  the  third  great  period ;  and,  succeeded 
by  Charles  the  Bald  and  Alfred  the  Great,  carefully  fanned  the 
sparks  of  ancient  culture,  in  order  to  rekindle  the  flame  of  progres- 
sive science.  It  was  he  who  first  opened  the  schools,  and  origin- 
ated scholasticism.  As  the  Mysteries  of  olden  times  had  been  the 
primary  source  of  Greek  philosophy,  so  the  convents  of  the  eighth 
century  were  the  cradle  of  the  ethical  systems  we  still  possess  and 
desire  to  improve. 

Scholasticism  commenced  in  the  absolute  submission  of  philoso- 
phy to  theology,  advanced  to  the  separation  of  these  two  spheres  of 
mental  exercise,  and  culminated  in  the  entire  independence  of 
thought.  The  first  epoch  comprised,  with  the  inspired  Scriptures, 
the  Christian  fathers  generally,  and  especially  those  of  the  Latin 
church,  of  whom  Augustine  was  the  chief.  The  little  knowledge 
in  this  department  that  had  escaped  barbarism  was  then  princi- 
pally contained  in  the  meagre  writings  of  Boethius,  born  in  470, 
and  senator  of  Theodoric ;  of  Capella,  born  at  Madaura,  in  Africa, 
about  474 ;  of  Mamert,  at  Vienna,  who  died  in  the  year  477  ;  of 


PHILOSOPHY. 


311) 


Cassiodorus,  who  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century ; 
of  the  Venerable  Bede,  who  opened  the  chief  sources  of  British 
civilization  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  century ;  and  of  that  other 
Anglo-Saxon,  Alcuin,  born  at  York,  726,  and  whom  Charlemagne 
placed  on  the  heights  of  mediaeval  culture,  at  the  head  of  the  re- 
generation of  mind  at  large.  John  Scot,  or  Johannes  Scotus  Erigena, 
as  he  was  called  because  an  Ii'ishman,  lived  long  at  the  court  of 
Charles  the  Bald,  and  afterward  returned  to  England  at  the  invi- 
tation of  Alfred  the  Great,  to  teach  at  Oxford,  where  he  died  in  886, 
expressed  the  great  text  of  his  cotemporaries  which  they  all  labored 
to  expound  and  exemplif^y  :  "  There  are  not  two  studies,  one  of 
philosophy,  and  the  other  of  religion ;  true  philosophy  is  true  relig- 
ion, and  true  religion  is  true  philosophy." 

Anselm,  born  in  Piedmont  in  1034,  Prior  of  Bee  in  Normandy, 
and,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  the 
tiTie  metaphysician  of  this  epoch.  He  was  called  the  second  Saint 
Augustine,  and  his  writings  achieved  a  remarkable  progress.  To 
him  is  accredited  the  argument,  which  draws  from  the  idea  alone 
of  an  absolute  maximum  of  greatness,  of  beauty,  and  of  goodness, 
the  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  its  object,  which  can  be  only 
Ood.  This  was  doubtless  inspired  by  the  genius  of  Christian  ideal- 
ism, and  was  so  effectively  elaborated  by  Saint  Anselm  that  it  is 
supposed  to  have  extended  its  influence  even  down  to  Leibnitz  and 
Descartes. 

Another  beautiful  classic  spirit,  who  struggled  and  triumphed  in 
the  midst  of  mediaeval  gloom  was  Abelard.  Born  near  Nantes,  in 
1079,  and  having  acquired  all  the  strength  that  could  be  furnished 
by  provincial  knowledge,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  from  a  pupil  he 
soon  became  a  rival  of  the  most  renowned  masters,  and  thenceforth 
for  a  long  time  in  dialectics  raled  supreme.  He  attracted  such 
multitudes  of  scholars  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  that,  as  himself 
said,  the  hotels  were  neither  sufficient  to  contain  them,  nor  the 
ground  to  nourish  them.  He  moved  the  church  and  the  state, 
eclipsed  Roscellinus  and  Ohampeaux,  having  Arnold  of  Brescia 
among  his  fnendly  disciples,  and  a  powerful  adversary  in  the  great 
Bernard.  We  are  told  that  this  "Bossuet  of  the  twelfth  century" 
was  handsome,  was  a  poet,  and  musician.  He  wrote  sougs  which 
amused  the  refined,  gave  lectures  which  absorbed  the  profound,  and 


320 


LEO  X. 


both  as  canon  and  professor,  was  regarded  with  the  most  absolute 
devotion  by  that  noble  creature,  Heloise,  who  loved  like  Theresa 
the  saint.  As  a  hero  who  was  active  to  reform  abuses  and  wise  to 
enlighten  barbarism,  the  chief  of  an  advancing  school,  and  the  mar- 
tyr of  exalted  opinions,  Abelard  was  indeed  an  extraordinary  per- 
sonage. 

NominaHsm  and  Realism  found  a  new  competitor  on  the  philo- 
sophic stage  when  the  advanced  and  victorious  system  of  Ooncep- 
tualism  was  established  by  Abelard.  Of  this  school,  John  of 
Salisbury  was  an  enlightened  and  pohshed  disciple.  To  him  and 
his  co-laborer  in  the  same  faith  and  age,  Peter  Lombard,  succeeded 
the  three  great  masters  who  represented  the  succeeding  epoch. 
Albert  the  Great,  born  in  Suabia,  was  by  turns  professor  at  Cologne 
and  Paris.  In  1260  he  was  bishop  of  Ratisbon,but  soon  withdrew 
from  that  post  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  his  philosophical 
pursuits  at  Cologne,  where  he  died  in  1280.  Thomas  Aquinas  was 
of  a  rich  and  illustrious  family,  who  wished  to  give  him  a  good 
position  in  the  world.  But  he  declined  all  secular  honors,  and 
became  a  Dominican,  that  he  might  devote  himself  entirely  to  phi- 
losophy. He  is  said  to  have  been  an  incomparable  teacher,  and 
was  called  the  Angel  of  the  School.  His  birth  occuiTed  near  Na- 
ples, in  1225  ;  he  studied  under  Albert,  both  at  Cologne  and  Paris, 
died  in  1274,  and  was  canonized  in  1323.  He  was  not  so  scien- 
tific as  his  master,  nor  so  mystical  as  his  compatriot,  Bonaventura. 
He  could  not  dream  of  modern  equality  ;  but,  as  a  Christian  phi- 
losopher he  recommended  humanity  toward  the  persecuted,  and 
exemplified  the  high  morality  he  taught.  The  English  Duns  Sco- 
tus,  born  at  Dunston,  in  Northumberland,  according  to  others  at 
Duns,  in  Ireland,  near  1275,  possessed  a  mind  of  uncommon  firm- 
ness and  powerful  action.  Physics  and  mathematics  were  his 
forte,  while  more  spiritual  themes  won  the  preference  and  exercised 
the  skill  of  Albert  and  Thomas.  Cotemporaries  named  the  first  the 
seraphic  Doctor,  and  the  second  the  angelic  Doctor,  but  the  third 
was  characterized  by  another  epithet  more  descriptive  of  his  genius, 
namely,  the  subtile.  Doctor  subtilis. 

Roger  Bacon,  born  in  1214,  and  whose  great  scientific  capacities 
were  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  chapter,  was  a  man  who  stood 
alone  in  the  thirteenth  century  on  account  of  his  linguistic  skill 


V 


PHILOSOPHY. 


321 


and  attainments  in  pliilosopliy.  The  poor  persecuted  Franciscan 
was  three  centuries  in  advance  of  his  age,  but,  despite  all  diffi- 
culties, he  did  much  to  promote  a  movement  of  mental  independ- 
ence which,  soon  after  his  death  made  itself  rapidly  manifest.  The 
separation  of  philosophy  from  theology  began  to  be  perfected,  and 
the  destruction  of  scholasticism  was  thus  secured.  Roseelin,  a 
canon  of  Compiegne,  did  not  a  little  toward  the  attainment  of  this 
end,  but  much  more  was  accomplished  by  an  English  pupil  of 
Duns  Scotus,  at  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth  century.  He 
was  named  John  Occam,  born  in  the  county  of  Surrey,  and  is  often 
called  simply  Occam.  He  was  a  successful  teacher  at  Paris,  under 
Philip  le  Bel,  at  the  epoch  when  the  political  powers  strove  to 
emancipate  themselves  from  the  ecclesiastical  power.  The  monk 
sided  with  the  sovereign,  and  wrote  against  the  pretensions  of  pope 
Boniface  VIH.  Afterward  he  said  to  the  emperor  Louis  of  Bava- 
ria, "  Defend  me  with  the  sword,  and  I  will  defend  you  with  the 
pen,"  and  in  like  manner  resisted  pope  John  XXH.  A  man  so 
bold  in  politics  could  not  have  been  timid  in  philosophy,  and  his 
persevering  courage  procured  him  the  name  of  Doctor  invincibilis. 
The  spirit  of  independence  was  everywhere  aroused  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Occam,  so  that  the  old  schools  were  quickened,  and  new 
masters  were  produced.  Walter  Burleigh  flourished  about  1337, 
and  wrote  commentaries  on  Aristotle,  PorphjTy,  etc.,  while  pro- 
fessor at  Paris  and  Oxford.  He  was  author  of  the  first  history  of 
philosophy  written  in  the  middle  age.  Marsile  of  Inghen,  founder 
of  the  university  of  Heidelberg,  died  in  1394.  Thomas  of  Stras- 
burg,  author  of  a  Commentary  on  The  Master  of  Sentences,  died  in 
135 7.  Thomas  of  Bradwardin,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  not 
only  a  mathematician  of  uncommon  power,  but  a  great  proficient 
in  the  more  literary  departments  of  high  philosophy.  He  died  in 
1439. 

In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  after  the  heated  con- 
flicts between  nominalism  and  realism,  another  species  of  philoso- 
phy, mysticism,  separated  itself  from  all  other  systems,  acquired 
consciousness  of  itself,  exposed  its  own  theory,  and  by  its  own  name 
was  called.  Near  the  close  of  his  life,  Petrarch  abandoned  literary 
pursuits,  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  contemplative  philosophy, 
was  a  mystic  in  behef,  and  died  in  1374.    Most  of  the  remarkable 

14* 


322 


LEO  X. 


men  of  this  epocli  were  disciples  of  the  same  transcendental  faith. 
Such  were  John  Tauler,  the  celebrated  preacher  at  Cologne,  and 
the  still  more  illustrious  author  of  the  "  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Whether  that  work  belongs  to  Gerson,  or  to  Thomas  a  Kempis,  it 
may  be  regarded  as  the  most  perfect  reflection  of  philosophy  in 
those  foreboding  times,  when  the  thoughtful,  oppressed  with  doubt, 
aspired  after  relief  through  reliance  on  the  mercy  of  God.  Scholas- 
ticism ceased  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  was 
succeeded  by  mysticism,  which  continued  till  the  opening  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  modern  philosophy,  properly  so  called, 
began,  and  is  now  molding  a  grander  philosophic  age.  The  mys- 
tical polemics  which  brought  all  learning  to  a  low  ebb  at  the  epoch 
of  the  decline  of  ancient  Uterature,  long  lurked  faintly  among  the 
cloisters,  by  the  dim  lamp  of  dreaming  solitaries,  to  whom  true 
science  was  an  unfathomable  ocean,  of  which  they  vainly  strove  to 
sound  the  depths,  while  their  only  object  should  have  been  to  sail 
across  it.  But  their  dogmatical  fixedness  was  overruled  for  good, 
since  all  the  great  elements  of  speculative  thought  were  thus  con- 
served, and  progressiv^e  philosophy,  nevertheless,  like  its  type  and 
hero,  through  night  and  tempest  westward  took  its  course. 

The  interior  of  the  cathedral  at  Florence,  so  imposing  from  its 
dim  light  and  great  extent,  is  full  of  that  local  interest  which  con- 
nects itself  with  a  mausoleum  of  greatness  and  museum  of  art. 
Upon  the  north  wall  is  a  portrait  of  Dante,  and  behind  the  choir 
is  an  unfinished  Pieta  by  Michael  Angelo,  whose  fervid  and  impa- 
tient genius  designed  so  much  more  than  it  could  possibly  execute. 
Under  the  crowning  glory  of  the  dome,  that  masterpiece  and  model 
of  renaissant  architecture,  lie  the  remains  of  Giotto  and  Brunelleschi, 
in  spots  marked  by  commemorative  busts ;  and  the  same  honor  is  paid 
to  the  remains  of  Facino,  the  great  restorer  of  the  Platonic  philosophy. 
It  was  this  erudite  scholar  who,  at  the  revival  of  learning,  procured 
the  printing  of  Plato,  performed  the  same  service  for  the  illustrious 
leaders  of  the  later  school,  and  illustrated  his  edition  of  the  great 
master  with  many  commentaries,  in  which  he  showed  himself  an 
equal  adept  in  the  mysteries  of  Plotinus  and  Porphyry,  as  in  the 
sense  of  Plato.  In  order  to  give  additional  zest  to  the  study  of 
Platonism,  Lorenzo  and  his  friends  formed  the  intention  of  renew- 
ing, with  extraordinary  pomp,  the  solemn  annual  feasts  to  the  mem- 


PHILOSOPHY. 


323 


oTy  of  the  great  philosopher,  which  had  been  celebrated  from  the 
time  of  his  death  to  that  of  his  disciples,  Plotiniis  and  Porphyrins, 
but  had  been  discontinued  for  twelve  hundred  years.  The  day 
fixed  on  for  this  purpose  was  the  Yth  of  November,  the  supposed 
anniversary  of  both  the  birth  and  death  of  Plato.  Francesco  Ban- 
dini,  eminent  for  rank  and  learning,  was  fixed  on  by  Lorenzo  to 
preside  over  this  ceremony  at  Florence.  On  the  same  day  another 
j)arty  met  at  Lorenzo's  villa  at  Careggi,  where  he  presided  in  per- 
son. The  new  academy  of  Platonists,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  em- 
braced a  large  number  of  the  most  eminent  men,  the  greatest  part 
of  whom  were  natives  of  Florence,  a  fact  that  may  give  us  some 
idea  of  the  surprising  attention  which  was  then  paid  to  philosophy, 
as  well  as  to  art,  science,  and  literary  pursuits.  In  this  respect, 
the  birthplace  of  Leo  X.,  and  the  great  mental  centre  of  his  age 
stands  unrivaled ;  a  species  of  praise  as  indisputable  as  it  is  well- 
deserved. 

We  have  seen  that  the  capacious  mind  of  Aristotle  absorbed  the 
whiole  existing  philosophy  of  his  age,  and  that  it  was  reproduced, 
digested,  and  transmitted,  in  a  form  still  preserved,  and  of  which 
the  spirit  early  penetrated  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  mediaeval 
mind.  Translated  in  the  fifth  century  into  Syriac,  and  thence  into 
Arabic,  four  hundred  years  later,  his  writings  furnished  the  Mo- 
hammedan conquerors  of  the  East  with  the  germs  of  science  which 
they  bore  so  opportunely  to  the  West,  and  thus  extended  the  em- 
pire of  an  exacter  philosophy  fi-om  Bagdad  to  Cordova,  from  Egypt 
to  Britain's  occidental  shore. 

Platonism  took  deep  root  in  Germany,  and  was  the  favorite  of 
the  ablest  philosophers ;  and  whether  the  mystic  Reuchlin,  or  the 
mathematical  Leibnitz,  or  the  recondite  Kant,  elaborated  their 
respective  theories,  they  equally  acknowledged  the  great  Greek 
master  to  be  the  one  model  of  their  admiration.  Sydenham,  Spens, 
and  Taylor,  translated  him  in  the  bosom  of  the  English  race ;  and 
among  the  British  admirers  of  Plato,  besides  the  cabalists  Gale  and 
More,  and  the  eloquent  pupil  of  the  Alexandrian  school,  Cudworth, 
were  many  of  the  ablest  philosophers  and  poets.  Not  to  anticipate 
the  new  age,  on  the  border  of  which  shone  the  Platonic  minds  of 
Milton  and  Gray,  we  allude  to  Berkeley,  whose  enthusiastic  esteem 
is  well  known,  and  to  Bacon,  who  never  speaks  of  the  political  or 


324 


LEO  X. 


moral  works  of  Plato  without  marked  respect.  The  mighty  archi- 
tects of  the  age  to  come,  best  understood  the  worth  of  those  found- 
ations on  which  they  built,  and  with  a  noble  sadness  sometimes 
bemoaned  the  obscurity  which  progress  necessarily  throws  upon 
the  superseded  past. 

In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  philosophy  appeared  to 
have  but  one  home,  Italy ;  but  in  the  seventeenth  century,  all  Eu- 
rope became  the  field  of  its  culture,  and  the  richest  fruits  were 
ripened  by  the  setting  sun.  At  earlier  periods,  inventive  mind  had 
scarcely  any  means  of  expression,  save  a  single  language,  and  that 
a  dead  one ;  but  in  the  seventeenth  centurjT  the  Latin  became  the 
exception,  and  philosophy  began  to  use  national  tongues,  which  it 
enriched  and  reformed.  At  the  moment  a  new  world  was  opened 
to  the  sublimest  advance,  philosophy  admitted  to  its  service  only 
living  languages,  full  of  the  future,  and  which  placed  it  in  direct 
communication  with  the  masses.  Thus  it  accumulated  its  resources, 
concentrated  its  influence,  and  pressed  forward  in  its  majestic  ca- 
reer, promising  soon  to  become  an  independent,  universal,  and  pop- 
ular power. 


I 


CHAPTER  V. 

RELIGION. 

For  the  right  examination  of  the  divine  dealings  in  the  ancient 
world,  heaven  has  vouchsafed  an  unerring  guide.  The  predictions 
of  the  inspired  writers,  and  especially  the  prophecies  of  Daniel, 
furnish  a  key  to  all  the  remarkable  events  which  authentic  history 
records.  The  fact  of  fatal  revolutions,  and  both  the  names  and 
leading  traits  of  their  predestined  agents,  are  declared  with  a  bold- 
ness which  ought  to  confound  the  skeptic  whom  it  fails  to  convince. 

While  Rome  was  already  trembling  under  the  power  of  decay, 
Judea  witnessed  the  fulfillment  of  those  great  designs  in  aid  of 
which  that  empire  was  permitted  to  gain  universal  mastery,  and,  in 
the  words  of  one  of  her  own  Csesars,  recorded  by  Tacitus,  to 
arrive  at  such  a  satiety  of  glory  as  made  her  willing  to  give  peace 
to  the  world.  Thus,  when  Christianity  was  to  be  produced,  all  was 
made  ready  for  her  advent,  and  the  appropriate  field  was  cleared. 
Rome  expiring  amid  her  ruins,  gave  birth  to  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
as  the  last  effort  of  her  grandeur,  the  uses  and  abuses  of  which 
were  not  less  subordinated  to  the  progressive  welfare  of  mankind. 
The  history  of  rehgion  is  the  pedestal  of  all  history,  and  is  the 
supreme  manifestation  of  God's  supervision  of  humanity.  This 
light  illumines  all  the  rest,  and  most  clearly  shows  that,  because 
Providence  takes  no  retrograde  steps,  human  progress  never  recoils, 
nor  lacks  agents  adapted  to  its  beneficent  advance.  The  great 
chain  of  heavenly  purpose  can  not  be  broken,  however  violent  the 
assaults  of  earth.  Great  revolutions  may  seem  to  be  suddenly  un- 
folded :  but  in  fact  they  were  conceived  and  nurtured  in  the  womb 
of  society  long  before  they  emerged  to  the  light  of  day.  A  review 
of  religion  in  the  age  of  Leo  X.  will  most  strongly  impress  us  with 
this  truth ;  and  while  we  are  obliged  to  abridge  the  statement  of 


326 


LEO  X. 


pertinent  facts,  we  will  hope  not  to  be  supei-ficial  in  the  elucidation 
of  their  governing  principles.  A  palimpsest  manuscript  perhaps  has 
had  its  original  hymn  to  Apollo  expunged,  to  admit  a  mediaival 
legend,  but  it  was  only  that  a  supervening  age  might  profit  by  the 
mutilated  treasures  so  providentially  preserved. 

Under  the  domination  of  ancient  Rome  an  unnoticed  grain  of 
seed  fell  in  the  Rheingau,  and  resulted  in  all  the  vineyards  which 
have  since  enriched  that  prolific  land.  At  the  dawn  of  modern 
society,  Christianity,  that  eagle  from  the  throne  of  God,  flying  with 
the  sun,  deposited  among  the  rocks  of  the  Rhine  an  egg  which 
contained  the  germ  of  more  spiritual  fruitfulness.  Many  Christians 
died  the  death  of  martyrs  in  those  western  wilds,  and  their  ashes 
thrown  to  the  winds,  became  the  seed-corn  of  a  new  world.  In- 
numerable heroes  arose  who  were  actuated  by  a  profound  faith — 
not  of  abstract  reason,  but  of  deep  sentiment ;  the  secret  and  source 
of  an  inspiration  not  to  be  cast  aside,  but  which  filled  the  soul,  ab- 
sorbed its  faculties,  and  formed  the  chief  aim  of  its  existence. 
From  the  fifth  century,  Europe  became  a  perpetually  enlarged  field 
for  Christianity,  but  not  its  boundary.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
di\'ine  power  which  underlies  modern  civilization,  and  which  was 
given  to  transform  the  world,  should  go  forth  from  the  darkness 
and  impediments  of  the  middle  ages,  in  order  to  develop  itself,  and 
produce  the  grander  fruits  it  was  destined  to  mature.  That  period 
has  been  characterized  as  the  chrysalis  of  the  new  world.  The 
first  portion  was  marked  by  universal  night  and  deadly  sleep  fol- 
lowed by  a  crystalhzed  formalism  of  corporations  in  which  soon 
appeared  those  grand  beginnings  of  national  regeneration  which 
Christ  came  to  occasion  and  complete.  If  the  development  of  the 
divine  purpose  seemed  to  stop  in  the  fourth  century,  when  Christi- 
anity became  the  religion  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  was  because 
that,  at  the  time  national  existence  became  extinct  in  the  East,  the 
new  Japhetic  race  of  the  West  was  to  be  trained  to  moral  responsi- 
bility, and  thus  to  national  independence  also,  in  religion. 

In  every  epoch  of  the  world,  religion  is  the  foundation  and  form- 
ative principle  of  all ;  it  is  this  which  generates  the  general  faith, 
molds  its  manners,  and  fosters  its  institutions.  The  age  we  are  now 
considering  opened  under  auspices  the  most  forbidding,  and  yet  not 
unfavorable  to  the  culture  of  exalted  moral  excellence.  Destruction 


RELIGION. 


327 


had  invaded  the  world-wide  empire  of  that  city  which  arrogated  to 
itself  the  epithet  eternal ;  and  even  those  great  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishments, the  fruit  of  much  martyr-blood,  and  of  the  devout 
labors  of  the  primitive  fathers,  were  swept  away  by  the  overwhelm- 
ing torrent.  "  But,"  Neander  says,  "  while  the  pagans  hopelessly 
mourned  at  the  grave  of  earthly  glory,  and,  filled  with  despair, 
beheld  all  the  forms  of  ancient  culture  dashed  in  pieces  by  the 
hands  of  barbarians,  devout  Christians  held  fast  to  the  anchor  of 
believing  hope,  which  raised  them  above  all  that  was  changeable, 
and  gave  them  a  firm  stand-point  in  the  midst  of  the  destroying 
waters.  They  knew  that,  though  heaven  and  earth  might  pass 
away,  the  words  of  the  Lord  could  not  pass  away ;  and  these  words 
were  to  them,  even  when  surrounded  by  death,  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  life.  The  existing  ecclesiastical  forms,  as  far  as  they  were 
connected  with  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  empire,  necessarily 
perished  in  the  universal  breaking-up  of  society ;  but  the  essence 
of  the  church,  as  of  Christianity,  could  not  be  touched  by  any  de- 
structive power,  and  at  this  period  of  the  world's  decrepitude  and 
exhaustion  showed  itself  more  evidently  to  be  the  unchangeable 
vital  principle  of  a  new  creation.  In  this  time  of  invading  destruc- 
tion, a  Christian  father  (probably  Leo  the  Great,  before  he  was 
a  bishop)  thus  wrote  :  "  Even  the  weapons  by  which  the  world 
is  destroyed,  subserve  the  operations  of  Christian  grace.  How 
many,  who  in  the  quiet  of  peace  had  delayed  their  baptism,  were 
impelled  to  it  by  the  fear  of  imminent  danger  !  How  many  slug- 
gish and  lukewarm  souls  are  roused  by  sudden  and  threatening 
alarm,  on  whom  peaceful  exhortation  had  produced  no  efiect ! 
Many  sons  of  the  church  who  had  been  brought  into  captivity, 
make  their  masters  subject  to  the  gospel,  and  become  teachers  of 
the  Christian  faith  to  those  to  whom  the  chances  of  war  have  sub- 
jected them.  Others  of  the  barbarians,  who  had  entered  the  ranks 
of  the  Roman  auxiliaries,  have  learned  in  Christian  countries  what 
they  could  not  learn  in  their  native  land,  and  returned  to  their 
homes  instructed  in  Christianity.  Thus  nothing  can  prevent  divine 
grace  from  fulfiUing  its  designs,  whatever  they  may  be ;  so  that 
conflict  leads  to  unity,  wounds  are  changed  into  restoratives,  and 
that  which  threatened  danger  to  the  church  is  destined  to  promote 
its  increase." 


328 


LEO  X. 


The  bishops  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  Antioch,  Constantinople 
and  Rome,  at  an  early  period  took  precedence  over  the  others,  and 
received  the  title  of  patriarchs,  which  the  eastern  metropolitans  still 
retain.  The  name  of  pope,  from  the  Greek  pappas,  father,  was 
once  common  to  all  the  bishops,  and  is  still  given  to  the  Greek 
priests  in  Russia.  The  term  was  not  monopolized  by  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  till  the  time  of  Gregory  VII.,  in  1073,  when  he  claimed, 
as  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  primacy  over  all  others,  and  was 
sustained  in  this  by  the  provincial  councils.  At  length,  however, 
diflBculties  arose,  which  led  pope  Felix  II.  to  excommunicate  the 
patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  Alexandria ;  and  thus  the  East- 
ern or  Greek  Church  was  separated  from  the  Western  or  Roman, 
though  both  assumed  to  be  universal.  But  it  was  the  western 
church  only  that  advanced  in  the  career  of  improved  civilization. 
The  monastic  system,  under  which  monks  and  nuns  secluded  them- 
selves, was  introduced  by  Anthony,  in  Egypt,  and,  in  connection 
with  papal  cehbacy,  soon  spread  throughout  Christendom.  The  use 
of  images  in  worship,  commenced  in  the  sixth  century,  in  the  East ; 
and  though  condemned  at  Constantinople  in  754,  it  afterward  pre- 
vailed, both  there  and  in  all  the  West.  Meanwhile  the  gospel  had 
been  preached,  in  France,  about  a.  d.,  290;  in  Ireland,  about  4*70 ; 
and  in  England,  by  the  monk  Augustin,  who  died  about  608. 

In  the  midst  of  the  great  and  universal  ruins  of  the  old  Roman 
empire,  the  church  alone  remained  upright,  and  became  the  corner 
stone  of  the  new  edifice.  Civilization  passed  under  her  direction 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Alps,  where  it  established  a  new  centre  of 
unity  and  brotherhood,  around  which  a  vast  circle  soon  extended 
itself,  and  embraced  all  Europe  in  the  same  range  of  improvement. 
A  common  faith  united  all  the  members  of  that  society  of  the  mid- 
dle ages,  and  from  the  day  of  its  conversion,  each  nation  dated  its 
entrance  upon  the  path  of  progress.  From  the  fifth  to  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  notions,  sentiments,  and  manners  of  European  society 
were  essentially  theological.  Every  great  question  that  was  started, 
whether  philosophical,  pohtical,  or  historical,  was  considered  in  a  re- 
ligious point  of  view.  Notwithstanding  all  the  evils,  errors,  and 
abuses  which  may  have  crept  into  the  Roman  church,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  her  influence  upon  popular  progress  and  culture 
was  beneficial ;  that  she  assisted  in  the  development  of  the  general 


RELIGION. 


329 


mind  rather  than  its  compression,  in  its  extension,  rather  than  its 
confinement. 

The  uses  of  early  CathoHcism  are  well  stated  by  Macaulay,  as 
follows :  "  Whatever  reproach  may,  at  a  later  period,  have 
been  justly  thrown  on  the  indolence  and  luxury  of  religious  orders, 
it  was  surely  good  that,  in  an  age  of  ignorance  and  violence,  there 
should  be  quiet  cloisters  and  gardens,  in  which  the  arts  of  peace 
could  be  safely  cultivated,  in  which  gentle  and  contemplative  na- 
tures could  find  an  asylum,  in  which  one  brother  could  employ 
himself  in  transcribing  the*  -<^lneid  of  Virgil,  and  another  in  med- 
itating the  Analytics  of  Aristotle ;  in  which  he  who  had  a  genius 
for  art  might  illuminate  a  martyrology  or  carve  a  crucifix,  and  in 
which  he  who  had  a  turn  for  natural  philosophy  might  make  ex- 
periments on  the  properties  of  plants  and  minerals.  Had  not 
such  retreats  been  scattered  here  and  there  among  the  huts  of  a 
miserable  peasantry  and  the  castles  of  a  ferocious  aristocracy. 
European  society  would  have  consisted  merely  of  beasts  of  burden 
and  of  beasts  of  prey.  The  church  has  many  times  been  com- 
pared by  divines  to  that  ark  of  which  we  read  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis ;  but  never  was  the  resemblance  more  perfect  than  during 
that  evil  time  when  she  alone  rode,  amid  darkness  and  tempest,  on 
the  deluge  beneath  which  all  the  great  works  of  ancient  power  and 
wisdom  lay  entombed,  bearing  within  her  that  feeble  germ  from 
which  a  second  and  more  glorious  civilization  was  to  spring." 
Elsewhere  the  same  eloquent  writer  suggests  that,  what  the  Olym- 
pian chariot  race  and  the  Pythian  oracle  were  to  all  the  Greek 
cities,  fi-om  Trebizond  to  Marseilles,  Rome  and  her  bishops  were  to 
all  Christians  of  the  Latin  communion,  from  Calabria  to  the 
Hebrides.  This  elicited  sentiments  of  enlarged  benevolence,  and 
caused  races  separated  from  each  other  by  seas  and  mountains,  to 
acknowledge  a  fraternal  tie,  and  a  common  code  of  public  law.  A 
regular  communication  was  opened  between  the  western  islands  and 
that  part  of  Europe  in  which  the  traces  of  ancient  power  and  policy 
were  yet  discernible.  "  Many  noble  monuments  which  have  since 
been  destroyed  or  defaced,  still  retained  their  pristine  magnificence ; 
and  travelers,  to  whom  Livy  and  Sallust  were  unintelligible,  might 
gain  from  the  Roman  aqueducts  and  temples  some  faint  notion  of 
Roman  history.    The  dome  of  Agrippa  still  glittering  with  bronze ; 


330 


LEO  X. 


the  mausoleum  of  Adrian,  not  yet  deprived  of  its  columns  and 
statues;  the  Flavian  amphitheatre,  not  yet  degraded  into  a  quarry, 
told  to  the  Mercian  or  Northumbrian  pilgrims  some  part  of  the 
story  of  that  great  civilized  world  which  had  passed  away.  The 
islanders  returned,  with  awe  deeply  impressed  on  their  half-opened 
minds,  and  told  the  wondering  inhabitants  of  the  hovels  of  London 
and  York  that,  near  to  the  grave  of  Saint  Peter,  a  mighty  race,  now 
extinct,  had  piled  up  buildings  which  would  never  be  dissolved  till 
the  judgment  day.  Learning  followed  in  the  train  of  Christianity. 
The  poetry  and  eloquence  of  the  Augustan  age  were  assiduousl}'- 
studied  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  monasteries.  The  names  of  Bede,  of 
Alcuin,  and  of  John  surnamed  Erigena,  were  justly  celebrated 
throughout  Europe.  Such  was  the  state  of  this  country  when,  in 
the  ninth  century,  began  the  last  great  descent  of  the  northern 
barbarians." 

Prominent  in  the  early  scenes  of  that  great  act  in  the  drama  of 
human  history  which  appropriately  is  characterized  by  the  name 
of  a  pope,  stood  Gregory,  the  first  of  the  name,  who,  from  the  year 
590  to  604,  occupied  the  sacred  seat.  God,  to  whom  all  his  works 
are  known  from  eternity,  raised  up  this  instrument  so  well  fitted  to 
guide  the  church  in  the  West,  in  the  midst  of  numerous  and  fear- 
ful storms.  Up  to  his  fortieth  year  he  had  filled  an  important 
civil  oflSce ;  and  afterward  in  the  calm  consecration  of  monastic  life 
he  acquired  the  power  and  stability  of  extraordinary  self-control. 
Depreciating  literary  critics  have  charged  that  Gregory  expelled 
from  Rome  the  mathematical  studies  ;  that  he  burned  the  Palatine 
library,  first  collected  by  Augustus  Caesar  ;  that  himself  despised 
classical  learning,  which  he  forbade  others  to  pursue ;  and  that  he 
destroyed  many  profane  monuments  of  art,  with  which  the  city 
had  been  embeUished.  But  the  appellation  of  Great,  by  which  he 
is  commonly  distinguished,  attests  the  opinion  which  was  entertained 
of  his  general  character,  and  doubtless  was  in  good  part  deserved. 

It  chanced  that  certain  Anglo-Saxons,  being  exposed  for  sale  in 
the  slave-market  of  Rome,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  mighty 
pope  just  named.  He  at  once  resolved  that  Christianity  should  be 
preached  to  the  nation  to  which  these  beautiful  captives  belonged, 
and  never  perhaps  was  a  resolution  adopted  whence  more  import- 
ant results  ensued,    Augustin,  attended  by  forty  Italian  assistants, 


RELIGION. 


331 


planted  the  doctrines  of  tlie  Holy  See  among  the  Germanic  Britons 
at  Canterbury,  and  thence  spread  their  influence  through  all  the 
ranks  of  our  pagan  ancestors.  It  was  not  long  before  intelligent 
converts  transplanted  their  sentiments  to  the  continent,  and  filled 
the  whole  empire  of  the  Franks  with  their  creed.  Boniface,  the 
apostle  of  the  Germans,  was  an  Anglo-Saxon,  whose  great  influence 
was  exerted  to  perfect  and  extend  civilization  among  the  German 
tribes  of  the  West.  While  other  realms  were  sinking:  together  into 
one  common  ruin,  and  the  world  seemed  about  to  become  the  prey 
of  the  Moslem,  the  house  of  Pepin  of  Heristal,  afterward  called  the 
Carlovingian,  arose  to  blend  regal  with  papal  resistance,  by  which 
means  the  first  eflfectual  resistance  was  offered  to  the  Mohammedan 
conquerors. 

Christianity  was  scornfully  trampled  on  by  southern  infidels  and 
northern  barbarians,  but  her  invulnei'able  spirit  was  subdued  by 
neither.  Like  her  founders,  she  was  seemingly  conquered  for  a 
time,  but  in  apparent  defeat,  death  gave  her  positive  victory. 
Bending  her  heavenly  form  to  the  tempest,  she  paused  meekly  till 
its  utmost  fury  had  passed,  and  then  raised  her  captivating  coun- 
tenance to  woo  the  savage  foes  who  held  her  captive.  Awe-struck, 
they  reverently  removed  her  chains,  adored  at  her  shrine,  and 
swore  fidelity  to  her  cause.  Refined  into  enthusiasm,  they  turned 
their  energies  toward  more  useful  channels,  and  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  chivalry  and  the  crusades  recorded  its  mighty  results. 
Divine  truth  came  not  to  avenge,  but  to  console ;  it  did  not  prom- 
ise peace  on  earth,  but  retribution  in  heaven,  and  was  not  so 
ambitious  to  break  the  chains  of  the  slave,  as  to  share  them  with 
him.  If  the  church  could  not  destroy  feudalism,  she  created  chiv- 
alry ;  to  quench  the  thirst  for  battles,  she  invented  processions  and 
masses.  To  the  victims  of  injustice,  she  opened  the  asylum  of  the 
sanctuary  ;  for  blasted  hopes  and  exposed  honor,  she  proffered  the 
silence  of  cloisters ;  and  against  imperial  ambition,  she  wielded  the 
thunders  of  the  Vatican.  Through  a  long  and  gloomy  period, 
popery  and  the  monasteries  doubtless  preserved  the  social  system 
from  utter  ruin ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  sooner  had  the 
new  system  triumphed,  than  the  seeds  of  corruption  appeared.  We 
dwell  with  most  interest  upon  the  period  when  the  brilliant  ardor 
of  western  valor  breathed  a  new  life  into  the  contemplative  and 


332 


LEO  X. 


ascetic  virtues  of  eastern  Christianity ;  when  the  red  cross  shone  on 
the  breastplate  of  European  warriors,  and  their  lance  was  couched 
in  a  holy  war.  It  was  then  that  the  militant  church  developed,  if 
she  did  not  perfect,  that  spirit  which  the  soothing  influence  of 
religious  love  would  substitute  for  the  violated  empire  of  the  law, 
and  for  the  laxity  of  social  disorder — the  spirit  of  chivalry.  Hence 
arose  that  noble  school  of  loyalty  and  truth,  of  devotion  and  gal- 
lantry, of  humanity  and  liberality,  which  was  the  right  arm  of 
Christianity  in  her  sacred  mission  of  peace  and  righteousness. 
Thus  it  was  that,  unable  for  a  long  period  to  disarm  the  ferocity  of 
those  warlike  ages,  religion  directed  it  to  a  nobler  end,  and  by 
inscrutable  ways,  transformed  it  into  one  of  its  most  efficacious 
instruments. 

It  was  on  the  shores  of  Palestine  that  the  different^orders  of 
knighthood  were  first  established,  in  which  military  ardor  was 
combined  with  religious  enthusiasm,  and  graduated  distinctions  in 
the  ranks  of  chivalry  became  the  rewards  of  distinguished  deeds. 
The  power  of  these  incentives  was  unparalleled  in  human  history. 
They  gave  the  first  check  to  the  brilliant  success  of  Saracenic  arms, 
and  secured  to  an  earl  of  Boulogne  the  crown  of  Jerusalem.  Men 
of  all  tempers  and  most  diversified  dispositions  imbibed  motives  for 
their  ambition  at  a  common  source,  which  simultaneously  fed  the 
lion  energy  of  Richard,  the  calmer  fortitude  of  Edward,  and  the 
more  enlightened  mind  of  St.  Louis. 

The  same  blending  of  secular  and  sacred  zeal,  which  had  ani- 
mated the  crusaders  to  defend  unprotected  pilgrims  in  the  East, 
incited  them  to  promote  improvement  in  the  West,  and  educated 
them  for  the  task.  While  absent,  their  ideas  had  been  enlarged  by 
an  acquaintance  with  Roman  jurisprudence,  which  still  ruled  in  the 
eastern  empire.  They  had  witnessed  with  astonished  admiration 
the  excellence  attained  by  several  of  the  Italian  states,  through  the 
agencies  of  commerce  and  manufactures ;  and  on  their  return,  they 
were  not  only  sensible  of  the  imperfect  administration  of  justice 
under  the  feudal  rule,  but  also  of  the  need  of  an  improved  product- 
ive system.  The  crusades  were  beneficial,  because  they  occasioned 
a  revolution  in  the  intellectual  state  of  Europe  by  introducing  a 
preparatory  change  of  feelings  and  habits  which  no  other  agency 
could  produce.    The  great  good  they  conferred  was  none  the  less 


RELIGION. 


333 


valuable  for  being  mediate  and  progressive.  No  radicarchange  iu 
the  condition  of  man,  thus  wrought,  has  ever  transpired  without 
resulting  in  the  most  salutary  effects  upon  the  character  of  all  his 
intellectual  operations.  Doubtless,  the  crusades  were  not  so  much 
a  cause  of  actual  knowledge,  introduced  directly  under  their  influ- 
ence, as  of  those  aroused  faculties  and  improved  habits  by  which 
both  the  useful  and  elegant  arts  were  greatly  promoted.  No  single 
event,  however  startling,  an4  no  one  age,  however  prohfic  of  sug- 
gestions, could  effectually  have  restored  the  mental  energies  of  the 
West  after  so  many  centmies  of  brutal  ignorance,  but  the  success- 
ive crusades  did  all  to  this  end,  and  as  successfully,  that  could  be 
achieved.  The  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries  teemed 
with  the  direct  and  multifarious  results. 

As  the  noble  gTandeur  of  Olympus,  the  fertile  plains  of  Thessaly, 
the  gloomy  recesses  of  the  rock-crowned  Pytho,  and  a  thousand 
co-operative  causes  tended  to  swell  the  romantic  harmony  of  legend- 
ary song  in  ancient  Greece,  giving  a  favorite  deity  to  each  particu- 
lar province ;  while  the  great  emigration  to  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor  enhanced  the  copiousness  of  their  religious  rites,  by  engTaft- 
ing  on  their  legend  much  of  the  frenzied  excitement  of  the  Asiatic 
race,  so  Europe  in  the  middle  ages  had  its  patron  saints,  and  around 
the  altar  of  supreme  worship  were  concentrated  the  reminiscences 
of  every  preceding  age  and  clime.  According  to  Colonel  Tod's 
statement  of  oriental  customs,  the  martial  Rajpoots  are  not  strangers 
to  armorial  bearings,  now  so  indiscriminately  used  in  the  "West. 
The  great  banner  of  Mewar  exhibits  a  golden  sun  on  a  crimson 
field,  those  of  the  chiefs  bear  a  dagger.  Amber  displays  the  five- 
colored  flag.  The  lion  rampant  on  an  argent  field,  is  extinct  with 
the  state  of  Chanderi.  In  Europe,  these  customs  were  not  intro- 
duced till  the  period  of  the  crusades,  and  were  copied  from  the 
Saracens,  while  the  use  of  them  among  the  remote  eastern  tribes 
can  be  traced  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  war  of  Troy.  Every  royal 
house  had  its  palladium,  which  was  frequently  borne  to  battle  at 
the  saddle-bow  of  the  prince. 

From  Pliny's  letters  to  Trajan,  and  from  other  sources,  we  learn 
that  ancient  idolaters  were  in  the  habit  of  so  consecrating  spots  and 
buildings  destined  for  religious  purposes,  as  forever  to  withdraw 
them  from  secular  uses.    Ere  they  began  their  accustomed  rites, 


334 


LEO  X. 


they  sprinkled  the  place  and  the  assistants  with  lustral  water,  which 
from  the  priest's  hands  was  supposed  to  have  conferred  peculiar 
sanctity.  The  Romans  burned  frankincense,  and  other  perfumes, 
in  honor  of  their  gods ;  and  celebrated,  at  the  entrance  into  the 
winter  solstice,  a  festival  to  the  goddess  Strenna.  The  return  of 
spring  was  celebrated  with  garlands,  and  the  dance  around  a  tall 
May-pole;  and  with  kindred  solemnities  they  entered  into  the 
summer  solstice,  with  which  they  began  the  year.  The  Christians 
adopted  similar  consecrations  with  a  like  design.  Hence  the  use 
of  holy  water,  the  practice  of  burning  lamps  and  candles  on  altars 
and  at  tombs,  together  with  incense  burned  in  honor  of  the  saints. 
Christmas,  and  the  festival  of  St.  John,  correspond  with  the  pagan 
rites  they  displaced,  while  the  presents  common  to  one,  and  the 
bonfires  which  illuminate  the  other,  are  mementoes  of  their  origin. 
The  idolatrous  priestesses,  who  were  vowed  to  perpetual  virginity, 
were  reproduced  in  the  mediaeval  church,  as  soon  as  the  Christian 
ranks  were  ample  enough  to  spare  certain  members  for  that  purpose, 
both  male  and  female.  In  fact,  the  very  tunic  of  the  priest,  the 
lituus  of  the  augur,  and  cap  of  the  flamin  of  pagan  antiquity,  were 
preserved  in  the  dalmatic,  the  mitre,  the  staff,  and  the  crosier  of 
Christian  bishops.  Still  more  important  similarities  crept  in,  and 
a  supposed  virgin  became  the  object  of  enthusiastic  worship  in  the 
age  of  Leo  X.,  as  in  the  foregoing  ages  of  Augustus  and  Pericles. 
Among  the  Asiatic  Greeks,  Diana  was  supreme  ;  with  the  European 
Greeks  and  Romans,  Minerva  was  first ;  and  Cathohcism  at  length 
found  its  highest  love  in  Mary,  the  immaculate  Mother  of  God. 
True,  "  Christianity  had  conquered  Paganism,  but  Paganism  had 
infected  Christianity.  *  *  *  The  rites  of  the  Pantheon  had 
passed  into  her  worship,  the  subtilties  of  the  Academy  into  her 
creed."  This  was  evident  from  the  symbols  which  were  freely 
adopted  from  the  Romans  in  the  decoration  of  the  new  churches. 
The  typical  use  of  the  cross  was,  of  course,  entirely  original ;  but 
the  vine  and  palm-branch  of  Bacchus,  the  corn  of  Ceres,  Venus's 
dove,  Diana's  stag,  Juno's  peacock,  Jupiter's  eagle,  Cybele's  lion, 
and  Cupids  changed  into  cherubs,  were  all  copied  from  the  pagans, 
and  made  emblematic  of  Christian  doctrines. 

Such  were  the  facts  of  the  case,  when  the  kingdom  of  Catholi- 
cism had  come  with  power,  and  was  seated  on  a  throne,  not  accord- 


RELIGION. 


335 


iiig  to  this  world,  yet  possessing  a  larger  territory,  and  exercising  a 
higher  dominion,  than  had  ever  been  given  to  sword  or  sceptre. 

How  wonderful  is  Providence  in  perpetually  eliciting  light  and 
progress  from  the  East!  Charlemagne  gave  the  popedom  its 
supremacy  beyond  the  Alps,  a.  d.  800  ;  and  before  the  close  of  that 
century,  a  small  body  of  spiritual  Christians,  near  the  Euphrates, 
were  persecuted  for  combining  the  adoption  of  the  Scriptures  as 
their  sole  guide  with  the  most  resolute  refusal  to  bow  down  to 
images.  The  emperor  Constantine,  who  sympathized  with  their 
views,  caused  them  to  pass  into  Europe.  Those  Paulicians  were 
the  original  reformers,  the  remnant  of  Judah,  who  came  forth  by 
royal  command,  to  rebuild  the  temple  of  the  faith,  and  restore  the 
walls  of  their  desecrated  Jerusalem.  Under  the  various  names  of 
Bulgarians,  Cathari,  Waldenses,  and  Albigenses,  those  exiles  were 
the  first  founders  of  Protestantism.  The  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  were  the  zenith  of  Catholic  supremacy,  yet  at  that  period 
Germany  gave  a  fatal  blow  to  the  temporal  power  of  the  popedom. 
The  emperor  Henry  IV.,  in  the  twelfth  century,  had  begun  the 
quarrel,  on  the  right  of  investing  bishops,  the  first  effects  of  which 
were  to  drive  Gregory  VII.  into  exile,  where  this  mighty  pontiff 
died.  From  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  papal  sover- 
eignty over  Europe  sank  rapidly,  and  was  almost  annihilated  by 
the  schism  of  Avignon.  Subsequently,  it  regained  a  portion  of 
former  power,  but  the  empire  of  Innocent  and  Boniface  was  ended 
forever. 

The  church  educated  disciples  to  see  her  faults,  and  supplied 
them  with  weapons  as  well  as  occasions  for  attack.  There  were 
reformers  long  before  the  "  Reformation,"  like  Arnold  in  Brescia, 
Waldo  in  France,  John  Huss  at  Constance,  and  Wickliff  in  En- 
gland. 

Every  manuscript  transcribed  from  the  classics,  and  every  Bible 
set  free  from  the  moles  and  the  bats ;  every  improvement  in  law, 
science,  and  art,  together  with  each  progressive  invention,  from  the 
mariner's  compass  to  the  monk's  gunpowder,  was  the  forerunner 
and  guaranty  of  even  greater  light  and  freedom  than  the  reform 
of  the  sixteenth  century  saw  realized. 

The  alleged  infallibility  and  unchangeableness  of  the  Roman 
church  is  necessarily  self-destructive  ;  since  all  systems,  civil  or  ec- 


336 


LEO  X. 


clesiastical,  which  are  incapable  of  advancing  with  the  tide  of  gen- 
eral improvement,  must  be  swept  away  by  its  progress.  Tenets 
and  customs  framed  for  times  of  barbarous  ignorance,  could  not 
withstand  the  test  of  improved  civilization  and  knowledge.  It  is 
said  that  the  shadow  is  nowhere  so  dark  as  immediately  under  the 
lamp  ;  and  when  the  true  light  of  Heaven  is  obscured,  the  vessel 
that  bears  it  casts  the  darkest  shade.  When  theology  takes  the 
place  of  piety,  and  dead  creeds  are  substituted  for  living  virtues,  it 
should  not  occasion  surprise  if  the  symbols  of  religion  are  deified, 
and  all  other  power  is  lost.  The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  not 
a  formal  confession,  but  a  progressive  principle  imbued  with  vital 
truth ;  and  when  the  church  forgot  the  life,  the  truth  vanished 
from  the  symbol,  leaving  the  defunct  relics  of  unspiritual  knowl- 
edge. But  this  was  not  always  so.  Through  long  centuries  of 
darkness  and  toil,  religious  teachers  filled  a  real  office,  a  thing  not 
of  silks  and  drawing-rooms,  but  of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures, 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  appearing  at  the  martyr's  stake  when 
requisite.  Then  a  bishop  was  a  real  genuine  pastor,  who  had  a 
flock  and  fed  it ;  he  was  a  leader  of  men,  and  lived  up  to  the  grow- 
ing wants  of  mankind.  In  due  time,  the  perversion  of  this  office 
wrought  its  own  cure.  By  engendering  grievances,  it  generated 
complaints,  which  occasioned  inquiries ;  and  thus  not  only  were 
certain  unfounded  claims  discovered,  but  a  radical  change  in  the 
whole  system  was  effected.  It  was  felt  that  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  styling  themselves  the  vicars  of  Christ,  had  too  long  been 
undoing  his  work.  It  was  alleged  that  they  withdrew  his  books, 
counterfeited  his  words,  made  their  own  opinion  a  law,  enforcing  it 
by  fire  and  sword  ;  that  they  intruded  themselves  into  the  secrets 
of  the  heart,  and  laid  conscience' asleep.  They  monopohzed  the 
eternal  clemency,  and  set  a  price  for  the  ransom  of  the  soul,  even 
beyond  the  hmits  of  repentance ;  and  reached  the  climax  of  per- 
verseness  when  they  sat  in  the  Vatican,  the  rivals  of  kings  in 
wealth  and  power,  if  not  in  crime. 

It  w«s  at  this  crisis  in  mediaeval  religion,  that,  early  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  the  Augustin  monk  Luther  visited  Rome  to 
strengthen  his  faith,  where  he  found  incredulity  seated  on  the  tomb 
of  the  apostle  Peter,  and  paganism  revived  in  the  chief  seat  of  relig- 
ious power.    Julius  II.,  with  a  helmet  on  his  head,  dreamed  only 


RELIGION. 


337 


of  battles ;  and  the  cardinals,  ciceroneans  in  their  language,  were 
transformed  into  poets,  diplomatists,  and  warriors.  Leo  X.  suc- 
ceeded, and  by  becoming  a  prince  still  more  in  the  style  of  other 
princes,  he  ceased  to  be  the  representative  of  the  Christian  repub- 
lic. But  he  soon  heard  from  afar  a  clamor  springing  up  beyond 
the  Alps,  and  arising  among  barbarians.  "A  quarrel  between 
monks,"  said  Leo.  Pericles  despised  the  barbarians  of  Macedon, 
and  perished.  Augustus  despised  the  barbarians  of  Scythia,  and 
perished.  Leo  X.  despised  the  barbarians  of  Germany,  and  while 
\  the  young  mind  of  that  western  world  was  in  revolt,  the  glory  of 
the  popedom  paled  before  the  flames  at  Wittemberg,  in  which, 
amid  shouting  students,  the  propositions  of  Tetzel  were  burned. 

We  believe  that  the  reformation  must  have  taken  place,  and 
nearly  at  the  same  time  and  place,  though  neither  a  Tetzel  nor  a 
Luther  had  ever  lived.  The  great  correlatives  which  finally  re- 
sulted in  that  outbreak  and  forward  movement,  were  very  far  from 
being  accidents ;  they  were  most  providential  and  necessary  phe- 
nomena in  the  course  of  the  social  development  of  civilized  man- 
kind. Luther  was  the  mere  cock-crowing  of  a  day,  for  the  advent 
of  which  innumerable  heroes  before  him  had  labored  and  longed. 
The  emancipation  and  enlargement  of  that  age  had  a  more  power- 
ful cause  than  either  some  casual  incident,  exasperated  personal  in- 
terests, or  unmingled  views  of  religious  improvement.  It  was  a 
new  and  vast  struggle  of  the  human  mind  to  achieve  its  destiny  ; 
a  new-born  purpose  to  think  and  judge  for  itself,  freely  and  inde- 
pendently, of  facts  and  opinions  which,  until  then,  were  imposed 
upon  Europe  by  the  coercion  of  unquestioned  authority.  It  was 
the  great  primary  insurrection  of  the  popular  heart  and  will  against 
absolute  spiritual  power,  and  was  chiefly  brought  about  by  the 
church  itself.  What  is  most  to  be  regretted  is,  that  the  work  then 
done  was  so  incomplete,  and  that  the  perfection  of  that  reformation 
has  been  so  long  delayed. 

During  all  this  brightening  period,  Florence  remained  the  chief 
city  whose  beauty  and  power  were  coveted  alike  by  Bourbons  and  the 
Medici.  Leo  X.  loved  her  fondly  ;  and  the  revolt  of  his  native  city 
was  more  painful  to  Clement  VII.  than  even  the  downfall  of  Rome. 
And  how  eagerly  did  Paul  III.  seek  to  obtain  footing  in  Florence  t 
AVith  a  proud  self-reliance  young  Duke  Cosmo  wrote  :  "  The  pope 

15 


338 


LEO  X. 


who  has  succeeded  in  so  many  undertakings,  has  now  no  wish 
more  eager  than  that  of  doing  something  in  Florence  as  well ;  he 
would  fain  estrange  this  city  from  the  emperor,  but  this  is  a  hope 
that  he  shall  carry  with  him  into  his  grave."  Yes,  truly,  many 
such  like  dukes,  emperors,  and  popes,  buried  their  petty  jealousies 
and  ambitions  in  loathsome  clay,  but  the  great  and  glorious  God 
overruled  all  their  schemings,  and  rendered  them  instrumental  in 
urging  forward  the  tide  of  improvement  more  broadly  and  swiftly 
to  its  goal.  If  Columbus,  in  opposition  to  the  counsel  of  Martin 
Alonzo  Pinzon,  had  continued  to  sail  in  a  westerly  direction,  he 
would  have  fallen  into  the  warm  Gulf  Stream,  which  would  proba- 
bly have  borne  him  to  Florida,  and  thence  to  Cape  Hatteras  and 
Virginia.  That  would  have  introduced  a  Catholic  and  Spanish 
population  upon  the  soil  of  republican  North  America,  instead  of 
the  English  and  Protestant  colonists  which  were  its  more  auspicious 
germs.  The  same  infinite  hand  winnowed  away  the  old  European 
chaff  through  needful  tempests,  and  wonderfully  fitted  the  seed- 
wheat  with  which  to  sow  this  vast  domain  of  untainted  soil. 

We  have  before  alluded  to  the  mission  of  Augustin,  when,  having 
come  thousands  of  miles  over  Alps  and  sea  to  debarbarize  our  de- 
graded ancestors,  he  landed  on  the  eastern  coast  of  England,  and 
began  a  most  successful  career  by  baptizing  Ethelbert,  king  of 
Kent,  into  the  Christian  faith.  This  was  the  first  unarmed  invasion 
of  the  British  shore,  yet  a  bannered  host.  A  company  of  black- 
robed  recluses  from  the  ruins  of  the  Coelian  hill,  undertook  the  con- 
quest of  the  remotest  western  isles  then  known,  and  marched 
bravely  to  the  task,  bearing  before  them,  as  Venerable  Bede  records, 
the  image  of  our  Redeemer,  and  his  saving  cross.  Those  same 
Benedictine  brethren,  with  their  successors,  were  the  authors  of 
nearly  every  thing  great  and  good  which  was  afterwards  produced 
from  Canterbury  to  Killarney,  and  from  lona's  solitary  retreat  to 
the  more  magnificent  shrines  which  glorified  the  rugged  western 
coasts,  and  reflected  with  augmented  charms  the  last  beams  of  the 
setting  sun.  The  literature,  art,  science,  philosophy,  and  religion 
of  England  would  now  have  but  little  to  show,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  protracted  and  noble  toil  of  the  great  religious  orders,  Francis- 
cans and  Dominicans,  but  especially  those  greatest  of  benefactors, 
the  learned  and  industrious  disciples  of  the  earlier  Benedict. 


RELIGION. 


839 


Tread  through  the  ruined  cloisters  of  Furness,  or  Fountains,  or 
Tintern,  and  think  not  that  when  devotees  retired  from  the  strife, 
the  passion,  the  whirl  of  the  Maelstrom  of  life,  the  sounds  of  am- 
bition and  trade  never  penetrated  hither.  Alas,  within  these  sacred 
inclosures  passion  and  pomp  reigned  violently  as  in  the  nearest 
neighborhood  to  the  throne,  what  day  one  brother  rose  to  the  cel- 
lararius,  or  a  more  talented  aspirant  was  exalted  to  the  abbacy. 
Memory  coined  her  chronicles,  and  fancy  wove  her  dreams  then  as 
now.  The  bustle  of  preparation  preceded  the  expected  knight,  or 
baron,  or  prince  who  honored  the  monastery  with  his  presence,  and 
when  the  Lord  Abbot  returned  from  visiting  the  national  parliament. 
Neither  monotony  nor  dullness  prevailed  while  the  monks  literally, 
as  well  as  in  a  mental  and  religious  sense,  transformed  the  wilder- 
ness and  noxious  fens  of  England  into  a  healthful  and  productive 
garden. 

Thus  redeemed  and  cultivated,  of  all  portions  of  the  eastern 
hemisphere  England  is  the  country  of  constitutional  rights  and 
religious  freedom.  It  would  seem  as  if  that  insulated  corner  of  the 
world  had  been  created  and  placed  there  as  a  nursery  on  purpose 
to  receive  from  the  mainland  plants  the  most  select  to  be  eventually 
transferred  to  a  yet  more  propitious  soil.  To  this  end  conduced  all 
the  movements  of  the  different  nations  which  successively  occupied 
that  hardy  territory.  The  conquest  of  the  Normans,  and  the  state 
of  the  country  at  the  period  of  this  conquest,  about  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century,  together  with  the  great  events  which  suc- 
ceeded it,  conspired  with  an  efficacy  constantly  increased  to  mature 
the  colonists  who  were  commissioned  to  plant  in  a  new  world  the 
elements  of  liberty  which  had  fortified  and  rocked  their  own  cradle 
in  the  most  vigorous  clime.  As  in  literature,  art,  science,  and 
philosophy,  so  especially  in  refigion  does  the  great  principle  of 
independency  run  back  most  remotely  with  the  Euglish  race.  The 
best  things  that  existed  on  the  continent  at  the  culmination  of 
mediaeval  excellence  were  carried  across  the  channel  bodily  by  the 
Normans,  and  first  among  these  was  the  disposition  and  power 
to  resist  papal  domination.  Guizot  states  that  the  pope  had  given 
his  approval  to  William's  enterprise,  and  had  excommunicated 
Harold.  Nevertheless,  Wilham  boldly  repulsed  the  pretensions  of 
Gregory  VII.,  and  forbade  his  subjects  to  recognize  any  one  as  pope 


340 


LEO  X. 


until  lie  had  done  so  himself.  The  canons  of  every  council  were  to 
be  submitted  to  him  for  his  sanction  or  rejection.  No  bull  or  letter 
of  the  pope  might  be  published  without  the  permission  of  the  king. 
He  protected  his  ministers  and  barons  against  excommunication. 
He  subjected  the  clergy  to  feudal  military  service.  And  finally, 
during  his  reign,  the  ecclesiastical  and  civil  courts,  which  had 
previously  been  commingled  in  the  county  courts,  were  separated. 
Thus,  while  in  Italy  and  France  the  Roman  populations  possessed 
no  institutions  at  all,  in  England  Saxon  institutions  were  never 
stifled  by  Norman  institutions,  but,  associated  with  them,  enlarged 
their  scope,  and  liberated  their  action.  All  over  the  continent  bar- 
barism, feudalism,  and  absolute  power  held  successful  sway,  derived 
either  from  Roman  or  ecclesiastical  ideas ;  but  in  England,  absolute 
power  was  never  able  to  obtain  a  footing ;  oppression,  temporal  and 
spiritual,  was  frequently  practiced  in  fact,  but  it  was  never  estab- 
lished by  law. 

As  the  early  Benedictines  laid  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  all  the 
noble  and  graceful  gifts  which  had  been  bestowed  on  them,  not 
seeking  popular  applause,  so  the  greatest  of  their  successors,  by  the 
same  Providence,  were  made  subservient  to  the  work  of  progress  in 
general,  and  of  religious  improvement  in  particular.  The  lamp  of 
divine  truth  was  not  suffered  to  be  extinguished  even  in  the  darkest 
times.  From  the  earliest,  and  through  the  deepest  corruptions  of 
Christianity,  God  has  never  left  himself  without  a  succession  of  wit- 
nesses. For  example,  Vigilantius,  in  the  sixth  century,  vehemently 
remonstrated  against  relics,  the  invocation  of  saints,  lighted  candles 
in  churches,  celibacy,  pilgrimages,  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  all 
the  doubtful  innovations  which  had  crept  into  the  church.  Claudius, 
of  Turin,  called  the  first  Protestant  reformer,  in  the  ninth  century 
bore  a  noble  testimony  to  the  truth.  Arnold  of  Brescia,  Henry  of 
Lausanne,  and  Peter  of  Brughes,  successfully  raised  their  voices 
against  growing  corruptions,  and  pleaded  for  reform.  But  freest, 
mightiest,  and  most  salutary  was  the  voice  of  England  on  this 
behalf.  Thomas  Bradwardine,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
Greathead,  the  learned  and  fearless  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  the 
noble  Fitzrulf,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
caused  their  powerful  lights  to  shine  from  the  earhest  and  most  ex- 
alted points.    Still  these  were  but  the  lesser  lights,  the  casual  out- 


R  E  L  I  G*T  0  N . 


841 


breakings  of  pent-up  fires,  precursors  of  the  approaching  morning 
and  brilliant  day. 

But  it  was  in  that  same  western  sky  that  the  auspicious  star 
arose,  and  Wicklifi"  appeared.  Thenceforth  men  became  yet  more 
guilty  of  thinking  out  of  the  beaten  track,  of  questioning  the  arro- 
gant claims  of  the  priesthood,  and  of  not  only  publishing  to  the 
world  the  living  oracles  of  God,  but  also  of  teaching  the  people 
their  right  and  duty  to  read  them.  The  Scriptures  were  for  the 
first  time  translated  into  English  by  the  pastor  at  Lutterworth,  and 
by  his  agency,  mainly,  was  a  foundation  laid  for  the  reform  of 
Christendom.  JSTo  sooner  was  this  chief  luminary  violently  eclipsed 
in  England,  than  it  began  to  shine  with  redoubled  splendor  on  the 
continent,  and  the  darkness  which  had  so  long  gathered  over  the 
religious  world  was  scattered.  Queen  Ann,  the  wife  of  Richard  II., 
a  native  of  Bohemia,  having  embraced  the  doctrines  of  Wickliff, 
caused  the  books  of  the  reformer  to  be  circulated  in  her  paternal 
land.  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  by  this  means  caught  the  fire 
of  the  English  reformer,  raised  the  banner  of  religious  progress, 
and  ceased  not,  till  their  lamp  was  extinguished  in  the  blood  of 
martyrdom,  to  devote  their  great  learning  and  influence  in  defense 
of  obscured  truth.  From  the  ashes  of  these  sacrifices  rose  a  light 
which  shone  throughout  all  Germany ;  and,  like  the  flames  which 
kindled  on  Latimer  and  Ridley,  at  that  great  source  of  the  Lutheran 
reformation,  Oxford,  lighted  a  candle  which,  under  the  blessing  of 
God,  could  never  go  out.  A  spirit  of  inquiry  was  roused  not  only 
in  schools  and  universities,  but  among  the  nobility,  and  in  the 
minds  of  the  common  people,  not  to  be  repressed.  The  foretoken- 
ings  of  rising  day  which  resounded  in  Alpine  glens,  and  along 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and  Languedoc,  long  before  broke  from 
Lollard  dungeons,  and  were  echoed  by  the  Huguenots.  The  same 
gracious  God  who,  through  the  darkest  centuries,  kept  alive  the 
fire  of  true  religion  in  the  East,  by  means  of  the  Nestorians,  and  in 
due  time  kindled  it  afresh  in  the  hearts  of  the  Waldenses  of  the 
West,  from  age  to  age,  and  from  place  to  place,  fitted  a  thousand 
minds  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes.  Councils,  emperors, 
kings,  philosophers,  poets,  the  church  herself,  all  in  their  turn  con- 
tributed their  influence,  and  hastened  the  result.  It  was  vrritten  in 
the  decrees  of  Heaven  that  the  Bible  should  be  the  weapon  by 


342 


LEO  X. 


whicli  the  principalities  and  powers  of  sin  should  be  overcome,  the 
strongholds  of  the  adversary  demolished,  and  from  their  high 
places  in  the  sanctuary  the  unclean  birds  should  be  dislodged. 
But  the  regenerator  of  the  living  temple,  destined  to  rebuild  the 
sacred  altar,  and  restore  its  fine  gold,  must  first  be  set  free  from 
the  bhnding  bondage  of  dead  languages.  Therefore  arose  the  tow- 
ering genius  of  Reuchlin,  the  teacher  of  the  great  Melancthon,  and 
the  masterly  mind  of  Erasmus,  the  one  to  give  Europe  a  translation 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  other  of  the  New ;  while  both,  with 
worthy  compeers  and  successors,  employed  their  profound  and 
varied  talents  in  defense  of  invincible  truth.  All  the  springs  of 
intellectual  action  which  were  so  palpably  at  work  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  are  clearly  traceable  to  the  thirteenth,  when  the  energies 
of  the  great  West  were  elicited,  and  independent  thought  was  first 
born.  The  German  reformation  was  a  necessary  consequence  of 
what  preceded.  Internal  fires  had  long  been  burning,  and  the 
heaving  earth  must  soon  give  them  vent.  Infinite  wisdom  saw 
that  the  grand  eruption  had  better  transpire  in  central  Europe,  and 
it  is  evident  that  the  time  had  come  for  it  to  take  place  somewhere. 
Had  not  Luther  led,  it  must  ere  long  have  been  conducted  by  some 
other  hand. 

And  here  we  should  especially  observe  that  Leo  X.,  though  in 
the  management  of  general  affairs  a  man  of  consummate  skill, 
prompt,  adroit,  and  energetic ;  yet,  in  reference  to  the  storm  arising 
beyond  the  Alps,  seemed  bereft  of  his  accustomed  policy,  while  they 
were  endued  with  uncommon  sagacity  who  were  undermining  his 
throne,  and  plucking  from  his  crown  its  richest  gems.  The  cardin- 
als, his  advisory  council,  appeared,  in  the  language  of  Scripture, 
to  have  lost  their  hands,  and  were  strangely  bhnd ;  but  Leo  him- 
self was  most  like  the  son  of  Balak,  whose  common  sight  was 
darkened,  as  much  as  the  eyes  of  his  mind  were  open,  who,  when 
he  stood  upon  the  commanding  height,  foresaw  the  advent  of  the 
Messiah,  and  foreknew  the  countless  hosts  of  the  spiritual  Israel, 
yet  pushed  against  the  armed  angel  of  the  Lord  more  stupidly  than 
the  ass  he  bestrode. 

When  the  reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  broke  out,  Ca- 
thoUcism,  like  Tithonus  of  the  fable,  had  reached  the  last  stage  of 
decrepitude,  without  being  permitted  to  die.    The  work  of  resusci- 


RELIGION. 


343 


tation  was  greatly  needed,  and  might  have  been  much  more  thor- 
oughly done.  Religion,  while  she  exults  in  every  recent  auxiliary 
to  her  cause,  and  is  especially  grateful  for  each  searching  trial  that 
may  have  purged  her  holy  flame,  can  not  with  ingratitude  forget 
the  papal  domination  which  kept  it  burning  through  long  centuries 
of  obscurest  gloom.  The  agency  of  Luther  was  a  notable  episode 
in  progressive  history,  but  nothing  about  it  was  either  isolated  or 
accidental.  The  aim  of  divine  interference  is  clearly  discernible 
through  it  all,  and  the  means  employed  were  as  strongly  marked, 
as  they  were  manifestly  fitted  for  the  parts  they  performed.  A 
regular  system  of  conserving  causes  prepared  for  the  crisis,  by 
which,  and  in  the  results  thus  accruing,  the  sovereign  design  was 
sublimely  exposed.  As  soon  as  the  desired  end  had  been  accom- 
plished, the  whole  system  began  to  dissolve,  and  a  new  cycle  suc- 
ceeded, which  was  also  in  turn  to  have  its  end. 

It  was  neither  Romanism,  nor  Germanism,  that  was  destined  to 
mold  the  sacred,  institutions  of  a  new  world,  not  even  the  more  re- 
publican Frenchism  elaborated  by  the  frigid  dialectician  at  Geneva ; 
but  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  with  all  its  blessed  freedom,  completely 
disenthralled  from  priestly  dictation  and  arbitrary  creeds.  English 
independency  was  the  true  spark  struck  from  the  Eternal  Rock ; 
and  when,  like  the  postdiluvian  altar  of  Noah,  it  bumed  on  the 
heights  of  America's  eastern  coast,  it  was  manifestly  the  will  of 
Providence  that  with  augmented  might  it  should  sweep  westward 
to  enlighten  and  redeem  the  world 


WASHINGTON; 

OR, 

THE  AGE  OF  UNIVERSAL  AMELIORATION. 


I 


PROLOGUE  OF  MOTTOES. 


"  Antiquity  deserveth  that  reverence  that  men  should  make  a  stand  there- 
upon, and  discover  what  is  the  best  way ;  but  when  the  discoverv  is  well 
taken,  then  to  make  progression." — Lord  Bacon. 

"  The  faith  in  the  perpetual  progression  of  human  nature  toward  perfec- 
tion— will,  in  some  shape,  always  be  the  creed  of  virtue." — Samuel  Taylor 
Coleridge. 

"The  Lutheran  clergy  have  esshibited  this  spirit  of  priestcraft  under  their 
consistorial  polity,  and  the  Calvinist  under  theu-  presbyterian  form  of  gov- 
ernment, as  much  as  the  Oriental,  Roman,  and  Anglican  bishops;  it  was 
manifested  as  much  at  Wittemberg,  Geneva^  and  Dort,  as  at  Jerusalem, 
Rome,  and  Cai^terbury." — Christian  Charles  Josias  Btjnsen. 

"  Till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  Grod,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  full- 
ness of  Christ." — Ephesians  iv.  13. 


PART  FOURTH. 

WASHINGTON.— AGE  OF  UNIVERSAL  AMELIORATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

LITERATURE. 

The  glory  of  the  vegetable  world  is  realized  in  the  aloe,  as  from 
the  single  stately  blossom  which  a  century  has  matured  it  diffuses 
the  balm  and  beauty  of  consummate  life.  And  such  seems  to  be 
the  destiny  of  nations,  to  pour  forth  the  accumulation  of  their  rul- 
ing qualities,  and  then  disappear.  Greece  blossomed,  and  Pericles 
was  her  central  flower,  proud,  elegant,  and  yoluptuous,  "  the  Corin- 
thian capital  of  society."  Rome  towered  in  a  trunk  of  glory,  and 
Augustus  was  revealed,  grand  and  ambitious,  bearing  the  imperial 
nest  on  high.  Mediaeval  Europe  blossomed  around  the  garden  of 
the  Medici,  and  Leo  X.  would  have  been  lost  in  the  multitude  of 
concomitant  glories,  literary,  artistic,  and  chivalrous,  had  he  not 
been  supreme  by  virtue  of  both  nature  and  office,  even  while  the 
twin-flowers  adorned  opposite  borders  of  the  mighty  field,  Godfrey 
the  captor  of  Rome  and  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  Richard  of  the 
lion-heart,  smiting  for  England  with  the  hammer  hand.  The  old 
world  having  exhibited  the  preliminary  exponents  of  an  un- 
bounded design,  America  produced  a  specimen  bearing  a  superi- 
ority of  majesty  and  duration  of  bloom  commensurate  with  the 
protracted  period  of  its  growth,  and  the  more  glorious  intention 
of  its  use.  ' 

Every  successive  epoch  of  civilization,  with  the  correlative  ideas 
on  which  it  was  founded,  and  from  which  it  derived  its  peculiar 
aspect,  after  maintaining  its  ground  with  graduated  lustre  and 


348 


WASHINGTON. 


utility,  has  arrived  at  its  inevitable  period  of  decline  and  dissolution. 
But  in  ceasing,  apparently,  to  grow  and  to  imbue  society  with  its 
beneficial  influence,  in  exchanging  an  erect  attitude  for  a  prostrate 
one,  no  vital  principle  has  undergone  an  entire  extinction,  so  as  act- 
ually to  disappear,  and  leave  no  trace  of  its  reproductive  benefits. 
A  portion  of  its  vitality  forever  survives  in  the  monuments  which 
attest  the  reign  of  the  power  to  which  they  owe  their  existence ; 
and  these  are  not  only  sufficient  to  prolong  and  sanctify  its  mem- 
ory, but  are  in  turn  themselves  the  sources  of  yet  ampler  and  no- 
bler influence.  For  example,  the  Teutonic  spirit,  so  long  disciplined 
in  Arctic  regions,  at  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  was  infused  into 
degenerate  races,  and  for  eight  centuries  continued  to  press  toward 
lower  latitudes,  everywhere  disseminating  hardy  habits,  pure  ethics, 
and  the  deep  sentiments  of  freedom.  Italy  received  the  Lombards ; 
Spain,  the  Goths ;  Gaul,  the  Franks ;  while  Britain  in  due  time 
fell  to  the  vigorous  Saxons,  and  Norman  superiority  finally  added 
the  accumulated  wealth  of  all.  Diagonal  forces  are  the  strongest, 
and  while  human  progress  has  from  the  first  moved  westward  only, 
the  great  redeeming  and  ennobling  power  has  always  descended 
from  the  North.  The  skill  that  tames  the  war-horse,  the  courage 
that  rules  the  wave,  and  the  energy,  honor,  and  perseverance  best 
adapted  to  beautify  a  barbarous  continent,  germinated  on  the  field 
of  Hastings,  and  were  transplanted  hither  at  the  moment  of  most 
auspicious  growth. 

From  Pericles  to  Augustus,  there  was  a  rapid  transition  through 
Alexander,  armed  tyranny.  From  Augustus  to  Leo  X.  a  protract- 
ed depreciation  extended  from  the  Apostles  through  monks  and 
crusaders,  armed  superstition.  From  Leo  to  Washington  trans- 
pired the  great  preliminary  age  of  scientific  discovery  through  the 
agency  of  Galileo,  Columbus,  and  Guttenberg,  heaven's  luminary, 
ocean's  guide,  and  earth's  fulcrum  of  all  power,  the  press,  armed 
invention.  From  Washington  onward,  literature,  art,  science,  phi- 
losophy, and  religion,  perfectly  revived  and  divinely  harmonized, 
will  constitute  armed  freedom.  The  close  of  the  mediaeval  period 
left  universal  intellect  in  revolt.  The  western  rim  of  the  old  world 
was  all  on  fire,  and  through  the  flooding  light  let  us  now  scan  the 
new  realms  beyond. 

When  the  fourteenth  century  expired,  there  was  no  healthful 


LITERATURE. 


349 


political  organization  extant,  but  in  the  fifteenth  all  Europe  entered 
upon  a  grand  system  of  centralization,  as  if  expecting  one  general 
commonwealth.  The  sixteenth  century  was  one  of  direct  prepara- 
tion ;  and  the  seventeenth,  above  all  other  epochs,  was  characterized 
by  the  establishment  and  extension  of  colonial  empire.  Prepara- 
tory to  this,  the  choicest  elements  were  driven  into  England  by 
persecution,  with  the  shuttle  and  the  loom,  the  graver  and  the 
press.  Drakes  and  Raleighs  scattered  armadas,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  human  history,  the  great  mass  of  the  common  people  stood 
revealed.  Settlements  were  made  about  the  year  1606  by  the 
French  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  in  1608  in  Canada.  Cape  Breton,  and 
Placentia  in  Newfoundland,  afterward  attracted  their  attention, 
and  a  disastrous  eff'ort  was  made  to  gain  a  foothold  in  Florida. 
But  voluntary  emigration  from  France  never  existed,  nor  is  it  the 
fitting  character  to  be  perpetuated  unmixed.  Ambitious  of  wield- 
ing the  sword,  and  not  the  spade,  that  martial  people  allied  them- 
selves with  savages,  and  endeavored  to  seize  on  the  whole  vast 
territory  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  Providence 
however,  had  in  reserve  a  better  element,  destined  to  combine  the 
whole  continent  in  one  great  republic,  while  France  has  at  present 
no  prosperous  colony  in  the  eastern  hemisphere,  and  scarcely  a  foot 
of  ground  upon  the  coveted  western  world. 

It  was  on  the  eastern  coast,  and  in  English  colonies  alone,  that 
the  great  foundations  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  laid.  In 
1607,  the  Cavalier  element  was  planted  at  Jamestown,  Virginia; 
and  in  1620,  the  Eoundheads  landed  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts. 
But  these  are  antagonists  by  nature.  A  little  descendant  of  the 
one  genus  can  not  meet  an  equally  diminutive  specimen  of  the 
other  without  the  imminent  and  instantaneous  peril  of  a  very  small 
fight.  But  there  is  vis  inertia  enough  in  a  Dutchman  to  regulate 
anything;  and  therefore,  in  1624,  the  island  of  Manhattan  was 
bought  of  the  Indians  for  twenty-four  dollars.  At  that  time,  Hol- 
land was  the  greatest  of  maritime  nations,  and  so  God  chose  them 
appropriately  to  plant  the  city  which  is  already  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  our  continent,  and  which  eventually  may  rank  su- 
preme on  the  globe.  Other  colonies  followed,  till  the  sifted  wheat 
of  the  old  world  was  sown  all  along  the  nearest  coast  of  the  new. 
Three  years  after  the  Puritans  landed  in  Massachusetts,  other  Pil- 


350 


WASHINGTON. 


grim  Fathers  settled  in  New  Hampshire,  and  Swedes  united  with 
Finlanders  in  procuring  a  tract  of  land  near  the  falls  of  the  Dela- 
ware. In  1633  the  old  feudal  elements  were  colonized  in  Mary- 
land, under  the  auspices  of  Lord  Baltimore;  and  in  1635  Roger 
Williams  moved  from  Massachusetts  to  found  Rhode  Island,  un- 
furled the  banner  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  in  his  city  of 
Providence,  and  left  "What-Cheer  Rock"  as  the  first  goel  of 
westward  progress  in  America.  At  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of 
Nantes,  the  best  element  of  French  society  was  persecuted  in  the 
Huguenots,  and  these  fled  to  the  wilds  yet  remoter  from  the  original 
colonies.  North  Carolina  was  settled  in  1628,  and  South  Carohna 
in  1669.  New  Jersey,  in  1664,  opened  an  asylum  to  the  Germans 
whom  the  sword  of  Louis  XIV.  drove  from  the  Palatinate;  and  in 
1682  the  persecuted  Quakers,  embodying  the  peaceful  element  of 
English  history,  came  to  possess  themselves  and  the  fruits  of  their 
quiet  industry  beneath  the  oaks  of  Pennsylvania.  If  we  glance 
beyond  this  great  century  of  colonization,  we  see  Georgia  planted 
by  General  Oglethrope  in  1733,  which  fact,  in  common  with  all  the 
preceding,  reminds  us  of  the  wonderful  care  manifested  by  the  God 
of  nations  in  selecting  the  primary  germs  of  a  new  civilization,  and 
in  giving  them  their  relative  positions  on  the  border  of  a  predes- 
tined and  immense  domain.  The  birth  of  many  pioneer  Washing- 
tons  necessitated  the  services  of  one  transcendent  hero  clearly 
authenticated  as  the  chosen  lieutenant  of  the  Almighty.  Liberty's 
great  battle  was  fought  and  won.  Soon  the  area  of  freedom 
became  too  narrow,  and  the  danger  of  internal  strife  too  great. 
The  third  President  of  the  United  States  buys  Louisiana.  Why 
then  ?  Because,  on  the  Hudson,  the  steamboat  is  at  the  same  time 
put  afloat.  The  rightful  possession  of  those  great  western  waters 
gives  us  more  available  inland  navigation  than  can  elsewhere  be 
found  on  the  entire  globe.  The  grand  instrument  of  progress, 
therefore,  like  all  other  needful  agencies,  appears  in  the  fitting  time 
and  place.  The  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  arrives,  and  great 
danger  again  threatens ;  when  lo !  far  in  the  West  rings  out  the  cry, 
"  Gold  !  gold !"  Why  then,  and  there  ?  Because  Americans,  in 
general,  and  New  Englanders,  in  particular,  will  go  to  the  mouth 
of  the  cannon,  or  dare  yet  more  fearful  terrors,  at  any  time  for  a 
dollar,  and  free  States  are  speedily  planted  on  the  Pacific.    It  is  no 


LITERATURE.  351 

longer  pertinent  for  a  little  Northerner  or  a  little  Southerner  to  talk 
about  dividing  this  Union  ;  great  Westerners  spring  to  their  feet  in 
predominating  millions,  crying,  "  No,  you  shall  not  divide !"  Sim- 
ultaneously with  the  discovery  of  California,  the  keel  of  the  first 
successful  steamship  was  laid  in  New  York,  not  to  run  to  Havre  or 
Liverpool,  but  to  New  Orleans — the  first  Hnk  in  a  stupendous  chain 
of  commerce,  destined  soon  to  carry  and  bring  the  choicest  treas- 
ures of  earth.  The  trade  winds  of  God  blow  westward.  The 
west  end  of  nearly  every  great  city  in  Europe  and  America  is  the 
growing  end.  Soon  a  guide-board,  standing  east  of  "  Pilgrim 
Rock,"  will  point  over  a  great  inland  thoroughfare,  saying,  "  To  the 
Pacific  direct ;"  and  west  of  San  Francisco,  its  counterpart  will  read, 
"  To  the  Atlantic  direct,"  while  on  each  hand  countless  myriads 
will  ennoble  their  toil  with  intelligence,  and  build  the  subHmest 
monuments  of  power  with  faculties  the  most  free.  As  the  rude 
archaic  sculptures  of  Silenus  were  gradually  refined  into  the  per- 
fected glories  of  the  Parthenon,  so  all  the  vitalities  successively 
developed  and  superseded  through  sixty  centuries  will  become 
resuscitated  and  harmonized  on  this  American  continent. 

From  this  general  view  let  us  descend  to  particular  details,  that 
we  may  enumerate  suflScient  facts  to  justify  the  conclusion  just 
stated.  The  federal  union  of  twelve  cities  in  Etiiiria  into  one  state, 
none  of  which  possessed  an  absolute  superiority  over  the  other,  and 
whose  affairs  were  regulated  by  deputies  from  each  city,  and  not  by 
a  king  or  any  hereditary  oflScer,  constituted  the  most  interesting 
institution  of  antiquity.  Derived  from  Asia,  and  exclusively  Pelas- 
gic,  it  was  the  first  form  of  republicanism  that  appeared  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  the  masterly  element  which,  infused  into  the 
constitution  of  the  states  of  Greece,  and  afterward  of  Rome,  gave 
rise  to  that  political  freedom  which  was  the  parent  of  all  their 
greatness,  and  which  has  ever  since  grown  increasingly  favorable  to 
the  development  of  peaceful  arts  and  social  amelioration.  Fortified 
and  refined  by  the  discipline  of  sixty  centuries,  the  diversified 
elements  of  consummate  power  and  progress  were  auspiciously 
blended  in  the  thirteen  original  colonies  of  the  United  States. 
Every  event  down  to  the  seventeenth  century,  especially  in  En- 
gland, had  contributed  to  render  the  fathers  of  our  repubHc  most 
happily  adapted  to  their  predestined  work.    During  the  seven  cen- 


• 


352  WASHINGTON. 

tunes  which  preceded  this  great  era,  our  wretched  and  degraded 
ancestors  became  the  most  highly  civilized  people  the  world  had 
ever  seen.  Macaulay  says,  "  They  have  spread  theu*  dominion  over 
every  quarter  of  the  globe — ^have  scattered  the  seeds  of  mighty 
empires  and  republics  over  vast  continents  of  which  no  dim  intima- 
tion had  ever  reached  Ptolemy  or  Strabo — have  created  a  maritime 
power  which  would  annihilate,  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  navies 
of  Tyre,  Athens,  Carthage,  Venice,  and  Genoa  together — have  car- 
ried the  science  of  heahng,  the  means  of  locomotion  and  corre- 
spondence, every  mechanical  art,  every  manufacture,  every  thing  that 
promotes  the  convenience  of  life,  to  a  perfection  which  our  ances- 
tors would  have  thought  magical — have  produced  a  literature 
abounding  with  works  not  inferior  to  the  noblest  which  Greece  has 
bequeathed  to  us — ^have  discovered  the  laws  which  regulate  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies — have  speculated  with  exquisite 
subtlety  on  the  operations  of  the  human  mind — have  been  the 
acknowledged  leaders  of  the  human  race  in  the  career  of  pohtical 
improvement.  The  history  of  England  is  the  history  of  this  great 
change  in  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  state  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  our  own  island.  There  is  much  amusing  and  instructive 
episodical  matter ;  but  this  is  the  main  action.  To  us,  we  will 
own,  nothing  is  so  interesting  and  delightful  as  to  contemplate  the 
steps  by  which  the  England  of  the  Domesday  Book — the  England 
of  the  Curfew  and  the  Forest  Laws — the  England  of  crusaders, 
monks,  schoolmen,  astrologers,  serfs,  outlaws — ^became  the  England 
which  we  know  and  love — the  classic  ground  of  liberty  and  philos- 
ophy, the  school  of  all  knowledge,  the  mart  of  all  trade.  The 
charter  of  Henry  Beauclerc — the  Great  Charter — the  first  assem- 
bling of  the  House  of  Commons — the  extinction  of  personal  slavery 
— the  separation  from  the  See  of  Rome — the  Petition  of  Right — 
the  Habeas  Corpus  Act — the  Revolution — the  estabhshment  of  the 
liberty  of  unlicensed  printing — the  abolition  of  religious  disabilities 
— the  reform  of  the  representative  system — all  these  seem  to  us  to 
be  the  successive  stages  of  one  great  revolution ;  nor  can  we  com- 
prehend any  one  of  these  memorable  events  unless  we  look  at  it  in 
connection  with  those  which  preceded,  and  with  those  which  fol- 
lowed it.  Each  of  those  great  and  ever-memorable  struggles — 
Saxon  against  Norman — Vilaiu  against  Lord — Protestant  against 


LITERATURE. 


353 


Papist — Roundhead  against  Cavalier — Dissenter  against  Church- 
man— Manchester  against  Old  Sarum,  was,  in  its  own  order  and 
season,  a  struggle  on  the  result  of  which  Avere  staked  the  dearest 
interests  of  the  human  race ;  and  every  man  who  in  the  contest 
which,  in  his  time,  divided  our  country,  distinguished  himself  on 
the  right  side,  is  entitled  to  our  gratitude  and  respect." 

After  the  above  summary,  we  need  not  stop  to  portray  the  steady 
progress  made  in  the  parent  land  toward  efficient  colonization 
through  the  agency  of  such  men  as  Clarendon,  Capel,  and  Falkland, 
Hampden  and  HoUis,  Ireton,  Lambert,  and  Cromwell,  Ludlow,  Har- 
rington, and  Milton.  As  soon  as  the  English  Commonwealth 
became  the  central  point  of  European  civilization,  the  focus  where 
all  the  noblest  powers  of  humanity  concentrated  themselves  in  a 
prodigious  activity,  the  third  continent  began  to  be  the  luminous 
side  of  our  planet,  the  full-grown  flower  of  the  terrestrial  globe. 
Thenceforth  North  America  became  to  all  nations  the  land  of  the 
future.  The  fertility  of  its  soil,  and  the  favorableness  of  its  position, 
the  grandeur  of  its  forms  and  the  extent  of  its  spaces,  seem  to  have 
prepared  it  to  become  the  abode  of  the  vastest  and  most  powerful 
association  of  men  that  ever  existed.  If  the  order  of  nature  is  a 
foreshadowing  of  that  which  is  to  be,  certainly  the  physical  aspects 
of  this  western  world,  as  well  as  the  historical  facts  which  connect 
it  with  the  East,  are  sublime  intimations  of  the  will  of  Providence. 
The  germinal  institutions  so  evolved  and  localized  were  new,  like 
the  soil  whereon  they  were  planted.  The  selectest  specimens  of 
whole  peoples,  clustered  in  homogeneous  groups,  took  root  and  in- 
creased with  a  rapidity  which  soon  enabled  their  adopted  America 
to  take  her  position  face  to  face  with  Europe,  not  as  a  dependent 
minor,  but  as  a  full-aged  daughter,  independent  and  an  equal,  a 
fought-for  and  acknowledged  right.  The  centre  of  the  civilized 
world  had  again  been  removed  to  a  remoter  point  in  the  West,  and 
all  the  mental  splendor  of  the  East  was  brought  over  to  illuminate 
the  immense  realms  then  first  redeemed  from  barbarism  both  north 
and  south. 

From  the  rude  early  dialects  of  India  arose  the  majestic  Sanscrit, 
the  copious  and  redundant  mother  of  all  oriental  tongues.  The 
Greek  was  the  purest  current  from  that  remote  source,  and  was 
simplified  in  its  westward  flow ;  and  the  Latin  is  a  still  more  re- 


354 


WASHINGTON. 


cently  simplified  dialect  of  tlie  Greek.  The  vernaculars  of  all  mod- 
ern nations  are  directly  connected  with  the  last  mentioned  sources, 
and  have  still  further  simplified  the  original  principles.  Of  linguistic 
progress  the  English  is  a  striking  example,  and  may  be  placed  at 
the  head  of  all  the  languages  of  the  world,  as  the  most  simple.  It 
is  the  most  recently  perfected,  and  at  the  moment  when  its  vigor 
was  the  greatest,  and  its  wealth  the  most  copious,  the  highest  men- 
tal abilities  coalesced  with  the  noblest  political  principles  and  emi- 
grated to  America.  Our  colonial  hterature  began  at  a  period  of 
the  highest  illumination,  and  was  not  unworthy  of  its  foster-fathers 
fShakspeare  and  Spenser,  Coke  and  Hooker,  Hampden  and  Sydney, 
Bacon  and  Milton.  In  culminating  excellence,  Anglo-Saxon  litera- 
ture was  transferred  to  this  land  in  a  body,  at  once ;  and  never 
was  a  conception  of  greater  magnitude  or  evolving  more  fertilizing 
eflfects,  started  in  the  vast  arena  of  human  progress.  That  era 
gave  to  history  a  soul  and  significance,  by  connecting  it  with  the 
supreme  Deity  who  anew  gathered  the  divine  breath  that  had  swept 
over  the  ruins  of  empires,  and  with  tornado  energy  dashed  down 
the  barriers  in  the  way  of  man.  The  colonial  period  was  signal- 
ized by  a  series  of  pitched  battles  between  the  progressive  spirit  of 
the  seventeenth  century  and  the  old  feudal  ideas,  which  all  the 
deadly  blows  of  the  preceding  age  had  not  sufficed  to  eradicate, 
and  which  then  threatened  to  resume  their  former  sway  and  pre- 
dominance. Then  came  the  revolution  of  seventy-six,  a  yet  more 
potent  preliminary  to  the  great  struggle  destined  to  throw  off  the 
mountains  of  oppression  which  still  crush  the  hearts  of  nations. 
The  morning  of  this  new  day  was  radiant  with  a  numerous  galaxy 
of  magnificent  intellects.  The  ages  of  Pericles,  Augustus,  and 
Leo  X.  were  consummated  in  the  epoch  of  Cromwell,  and  all 
was  but  the  vestibule  direct  to  the  grander  age  of  Washington. 
Simultaneous  with  the  advent  of  the  latter,  mighty  leaders  arose 
who  were  the  personifications  and  ready  agents  of  whatever  ap- 
peared necessary  to  be  thought,  said,  or  done.  Many  of  these 
perished  in  the  struggle,  but  not  their  work ;  from  necessitated  ruin 
sprang  superior  grandeurs,  and  the  general  progress  paused  not 
needlessly  to  bemoan  its  heroes  in  their  individual  graves.  When 
the  time  arrived  for  old  limbs  to  descend,  that  new  sap  might  more 
freely  rise  and  circulate  to  renew  national  life  and  rejuvenate  ideas, 


LITERATURE. 


355 


many  colonists  in  the  wilds  of  America,  like  Tell  amid  tlie  glaciers 
of  Switzerland  were  ready  to  exclaim,  Perish  my  name,  if  need  be, 
but  let  Freedom  live  !  Nor  did  they  doubt  the  final  issue,  but  de- 
voutly believed  that  great  revolutions,  however  involved  their 
apparent  orbits,  like  the  stars,  march  in  fixed  cycles  which  perpetu- 
ally tend  to  the  perfection  of  the  common  weal.  As  great  and 
good  thoughts,  the  best  gold  of  earth,  are  least  destroyed  when 
most  dispersed,  so  colonial  literature  aimed  perpetually  to  equalize 
all  good  and  hinder  none.  Public  spirit  then  was  an  exalted  moral 
virtue,  the  direct  reverse  of  selfishness,  its  end  being  the  noblest  to 
which  our  faculties  are  capable  of  aspiring,  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
human  race.  No  people  ever  possessed  this  in  richer  abundance 
than  the  first  writers  among  our  colonists,  and  the  fruits  thereof 
were  increasingly  conspicuous  during  their  efforts  to  lay  the  found- 
ations of  that  vast  temple  of  liberty  they  came  to  rear.  Each  little 
community  of  patriots  were  almost  equally  expert  with  the  axe,  the 
sword,  and  the  pen,  possessing  a  brave  fortitude  which  could  emu- 
late the  magnanimity  of  the  Roman  senate,  who,  though  stunned 
by  an  unexpected  and  overwhelming  blow,  had  the  spirit  to  go 
forth  to  meet  the  unfortunate  Varro  and  thank  him,  because  he 
still  had  hopes  of  his  country.  Not  a  few  of  our  literary  pioneers 
exemplified  the  patriotic  energy  of  the  individual,  who,  when  Han- 
nibal was  encamped  at  the  gates  of  Rome,  went  into  the  market- 
place, and  bought,  "  at  no  cheap  rate,"  the  ground  on  which  the 
conqueror's  tent  was  standing.  Such  especially  was  the  spirit  of 
him  who  was  wiser  than  the  prudent  Fabius,  greater  and  better 
than  the  great  and  good  Aristides,  the  unprecedented  hero  who 
gave  his  name  to  the  happy  age  in  which  we  live. 

From  1578  to  1704,  under  Elizabeth,  James  the  First,  Charles 
the  First,  the  Long  Parliament,  Cromwell,  Charles  the  Second, 
James  the  Second,  William  the  Third,  and  Queen  Anne,  the  chart- 
ers of  several  of  the  colonies  were  in  succession  recognized,  con- 
tested, restrained  or  enlarged,  lost  and  regained,  which  long-con- 
tinued struggle  vigorously  exercised  and  matured  all  the  leading 
minds.  From  this  and  other  kindred  literary  causes  resulted  the 
master  spirits  who  achieved  national  independence  and  founded  the 
republic.  Among  these  stood  Franklin,  Adams,  Hamilton,  Jeffer- 
son, Madison,  Jay,  Henry,  Mason,  Greene,  Knox,  Morris,  Pinckney, 


356 


WASHINGTON. 


Clinton,  Trumbull,  and  Rutledge.  Perhaps  the  world  never  saw  a 
national  convention  wherein  the  average  of  mental  power  rose 
higher  than  in  the  one  which  held  its  first  session  in  Philadelphia, 
on  the  14th  of  May,  1787,  with  Washington  in  the  chair.  Be- 
tween that  date  and  the  lYth  of  September  following,  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  was  formed ;  and  on  the  30th  of  April, 
1789,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  Constituent  Assembly  was 
commencing  its  session  in  Paris,  the  first  President  of  the  republic 
took  his  oath. 

The  original  cultivators  of  our  virgin  soil  not  only  set  out  with  a 
complete  body  of  ancestral  literature,  and  examples  of  the  highest 
cultivation  derived  from  anterior  nations,  but  they  diligently  im- 
proved upon  what  they  had  received.  It  was  necessary  that  the 
first  published  documents  should  partake  largely  of  politics ;  but 
the  mental  strength  and  elaborate  excellence  of  these  resolute  en- 
deavors excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  chief  veterans  of 
the  world.  In  these  writings  they  saw  clearly  defined  and  fully 
inaugurated  the  glorious  age  of  universal  amelioration.  It  began 
in  the  general  revolt  of  the  Dutch  in  Holland,  about  1576,  resulting 
in  the  Republic  of  the  Seven  United  Provinces ;  was  continued  by 
the  edict  of  Nantes,  in  1589,  passed  by  Henry  IV.  of  France ; 
and,  in  the  old  world,  culminated,  through  the  agency  of  the 
Long  Parhament  of  1641  and  1642,  in  the  English  revolution 
of  1688.  Starting  at  the  goal  where  all  previous  eras  of  reform 
paused  in  a  grand  consummation,  the  American  revolution,  which 
dates  from  1775,  has  moved  irresistibly  forward  with  a  liberating 
and  ennobling  influence  often  seen  and  felt  beyond  its  own  imme- 
diate sphere.  The  French  revolution  of  1798,  which  overturned 
religious  and  political  feudalism  on  the  continent,  and  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  Spanish  American  provinces  in  the  year  1810,  together 
with  the  revolutions  of  1830  and  1848,  which  so  materially 
modified  the  remains  of  despotism  in  France,  Germany,  Prussia, 
Italy,  and  Austria,  are  but  offshoots  of  this  great  central  tree  of 
freedom  whose  continually-spreading  might  and  beauty  shall  ulti- 
mately protect  and  refresh  the  human  race. 

The  first  great  contributors  to  our  national  literature  had  the 
ambition  and  ability  to  catch  the  departed  spirit  of  obsolete  forms 
and  embody  it  in  new  and  nobler  shapes.    In  the  place  of  super- 


LITERATURE. 


357 


seded  institutions,  they  substituted  such  original  ones  as  would 
mold,  vitalize,  and  impel  the  existing  mass  of  plastic  character,  and 
thus  do  for  the  passing  and  prospective  age  what  the  old  in  their 
day  did  for  the  past.  Evil  from  its  nature  is  akin  to  death,  but  all 
goodness  is  immortal ;  and  it  is  the  latter  which.  Providence  mer- 
cifully accumulates  along  the  path  of  progress,  the  precious 
inheritance  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  heroes  of  humanity,  to  amehorate 
the  condition  of  survivors,  and  inspire  eternal  hope.  It  is  fated 
that  freedom  can  never  be  asserted  without  desperate  literary  strife, 
nor  be  fully  established  until  it  is  cemented  in  patriotic  blood ;  that 
it  can  only  be  won  and  perpetuated  by  those  who  feel  in  their  own 
energies  the  means  of  asserting  it  against  all  odds,  and  will  obtain 
the  invaluable  boon  at  any  rate.  The  emancipation  and  elevation 
of  the  American  colonies  into  a  republic  was  in  heroical  letters  as 
well  as  arms  the  great  primary  monument  of  our  land.  The  pages 
not  less  than  the  speeches  of  great  leaders  were  successive  flashes  of 
divine  eloquence,  such  as  never  before  shone  over  the  vanguard  of 
mankind.  We  can  not  wonder  that  comrades  in  purpose  and  pur- 
suit gathered  in  closer  admiration,  and  were  thrilled  under  the 
power  of  their  lofty  genius.  They  might  incur  martyrdom,  but 
never  sank  in  despair ;  nor  has  a  drop  of  such  blood  been  wasted, 
since  blood  ransomed  the  earth. 

The  Mayflower  brought  no  pre-eminently  distinguished  man,  but 
what  was  better,  a  written  constitution  which  defined  and  fortified 
the  united  greatness  of  confederated  fellow  pioneers.  The  Pilgrim 
Fathers,  equally  exalted  by  the  oneness  of  their  purpose,  stood  on  a 
sublime  level  which  the  cumulative  labors  of  six  thousand  years 
had  cast  up  ;  a  social  grandeur  which  was  best  represented  by  that 
cluster  of  kindred  institutions,  the  family,  school,  and  churcli,  they 
came  thereon  to  plant.  When  these  elements  had  been  extended 
westward  to  the  remotest  available  point,  and  were  liberalized  by  an 
expansion  over  the  widest  diameter,  the  freest  pen  expressed  the 
most  perfect  equality,  indicating  a  yet  loftier  terrace  which  it  wall 
probably  require  a  long  period  fully  to  reach.  At  that  time  a  fresh 
cluster  of  great  men  had  risen  so  far  in  advance  of  the  common 
mass,  that  it  was  only  a  minority  who  at  first  dared  to  adopt  the 
views  of  more  enlightened  minds ;  and  even  in  the  assembly  of 
illustrious  prophets  themselves,  it  was  only  by  a  majority  of  one,  at 


358 


WASHINGTON. 


first,  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  carried.  But  unhke 
the  old  barons  at  Runn}Tnede,  our  republican  champions  could  all 
sign  their  full  names  to  the  new  Magna  Charta,  and  were  ready,  at 
the  greatest  hazards,  to  authenticate  the  birth  and  prerogatives  of 
Young  America.  Never  was  so  mighty  an  instrument  executed  by 
so  youthful  hands.  Of  the  fifty-five  signers,  eight  had  passed  fifty 
years,  but  were  under  sixty ;  twenty-two  had  reached  forty  ;  seven- 
teen were  thirty,  and  two  were  but  twenty-seven  years  old.  Had 
there  been  fewer  young  men  at  that  eventful  crisis,  it  is  probable 
that  Jefferson's  daring  patriotism  would  have  been  repudiated,  and 
his  sagacious  purchase  of  Louisiana,  with  all  the  hterary  and  com- 
mercial facilities  consequent  thereupon,  together  with  all  the  pre- 
liminary advancement  toward  that  great  centre  of  national  domain, 
would  have  been  disastrously  postponed. 

But,  no  !  Thanks  to  an  overruling  Providence,  the  seasons, 
agents,  and  instrumentalities  appropriately  appear  and  ultimately 
conduce  to  the  one  great  end,  beneficent  amelioration  perpetually 
increased.  All  great  minds  are  thus  rendered  cotemporaneous, 
and  are  naturalized  among  us  in  the  highest  sense.  Machiavelli, 
Montesquieu,  and  Bacon,  Moliere,  Cervantes,  and  Shakspeare, 
touch  the  springs  of  emotion  and  sway  mental  energies  on  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson,  the  Ohio,  or  the  Missouri,  as  on  the  banks  of 
the  Guadalquiver,  the  Seine,  or  the  Avon.  National  literature  is 
no  longer  hmited  to  its  fatherland,  whether  a  contracted  island  or 
fragmentary  continent,  but  spreads  in  a  language  more  compre- 
hensive than  that  of  ancient  Greece  or  Rome,  and-  exhibits  full 
development  on  the  immensity  of  an  entire  hemisphere.  Mutual 
pledges  are  rapidly  increased  between  all  literary  producers,  and 
their  reciprocal  labors  promise  soon  to  establish  a  grand  brother- 
hood cast  in  the  mighty  mold  of  the  largest  liberty,  and  combined 
to  realize  the  dinne  conception  which  rose  in  the  majestic  mind  of 
Milton,  of  "  that  lasting  fame  and  perpetuity  of  praise  which  God 
and  good  men  have  consented  shall  be  the  reward  of  those  whose 
published  labors  advanced  the  good  of  makind." 

The  Puritan  colonies  were  from  the  beginning  pre-eminent  in 
the  cause  of  education.  In  1636,  steps  were  taken  toward  the 
foundation  of  a  college  at  Newtown,  since  called  Cambridge,  in 
honor  of  the  English  university.    Two  years  later,  this  purpose  was 


LITERATURE. 


359 


confirmed  by  the  bequest  of  John  Hai-vard,  who  gave  the  new  in- 
stitution a  sum  of  money  and  a  valuable  library.  The  first  print- 
ing-press in  America  was  set  up  in  Harvard,  in  the  President's 
house,  in  1639.  The  literary  and  moral  training  of  all  children 
and  youth  was  regarded  as  most  important,  and  Massachusetts,  as 
early  as  1647,  required  by  law  that  every  township  which  had  fifty 
householders  should  have  a  school-house  and  employ  a  teacher,  and 
such  as  had  one  thousand  freeholders  should  have  a  grammar- 
school.  From  that  time  forward  the  subject  of  education  has 
received  increasing  attention,  especially  in  the  new  western  States. 
Michigan  has  a  public  fund  for  this  purpose  which  yields  $30,000 
annually,  a  sum  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  oldest  commonwealth  ; 
and  the  like  fund  in  Wisconsin  yields  more  than  three  times  that 
amount,  per  annum.  The  last  States  that  are  organized  begin  with 
the  highest  improvements  extant  in  the  first,  and  thus  carry  for- 
ward this  supreme  agent  of  civilization  in  advance  of  all  the  rest. 
Since  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  colleges  in  New  England 
have  been  increased  from  seven  to  fourteen  ;  in  the  Middle  States, 
from  six  to  twenty-two  ;  in  the  Southern  States,  from  nine  to  thirty- 
seven  ;  and  in  the  Western  States,  from  three  to  forty-seven. 

The  first  newspaper  in  this  country  was  the  "  Boston  News-Let- 
ter," commenced  in  1*704  ;  followed  by  the  "Boston  Gazette,"  in 
1719,  and  the  "American  Weekly  Mercury,"  at  Philadelphia,  in  the 
same  year.  The  "New  York  Gazette"  first  appeared  in  1725.  A 
half  century  later,  there  were  but  thirty-seven  public  journals  in  all 
the  colonies,  and  these  were  regarded  favorably  by  both  low  and 
high,  with  a  few  exceptions.  Governor  Berkley,  of  Virginia,  in 
1675,  said :  "  I  thank  God  that  we  have  no  free  schools  nor  print- 
ing-presses, and  I  hope  that  we  shall  not  have  any  for  a  hundred 
years  ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects 
into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them,  and  libeled  gov- 
ernments. God  keep  us  from  both  !"  Lord  EflSngham,  of  the 
same  colony,  in  1683,  was  ordered  "  to  allow  no  person  to  use  a 
printing-press  on  any  occasion  whatever." 

We  need  not  attempt  to  estimate  how  immense  is  the  periodical 
literature  of  the  United  States  at  present,  embracing  the  newspa- 
pers, and  the  monthly  and  quarterly  magazines  and  reviews.  There 
is  no  depai'tment  of  art  in  our  country  in  which  greater  progress 


360 


WASHINGTON. 


has  been  made  dunng  the  last  thirty  years  than  in  that  of  printing ; 
and  while  the  entire  number  of  copies  struck  off,  annually,  must  be 
many  millions,  much  the  larger  proportion  is  produced  for,  if  not 
by,  the  free  West. 

The  first  original  books  in  America  were  written  in  New  En- 
gland, and  there  the  chief  seat  of  literary  influence  has  heretofore 
remained.  But  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  a  great  change  has 
already  taken  place  ;  and  yet  easier  is  it  to  predict  that  when,  in- 
stead of  aping  foreign  models,  we  come  to  have  a  literature  really 
national,  its  perfection,  like  all  its  best  materials,  will  be  found  in 
the  great  West.  A  magnificent  field  for  intellect,  in  all  its  invent- 
ive and  constructive  shapes,  is  manifestly  opening  in  nearer  prox- 
imity to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  shore.  As  material 
treasures,  long  buried,  are  now  from  that  remote  quarter  sent  forth 
to  enrich  the  world,  so  will  an  infinitely  more  useful  superabund- 
ance of  intellect  be  poured  thence  by  and  by  to  enlighten  and 
redeem  the  efiete  continents  beyond. 

The  East  has  always  guarded  the  literary  elements  of  a  pro- 
ductive age,  while  the  appropriate  field  of  their  culture  was  pre- 
paring, and  then  has  yielded  the  contracted  measure  of  seed  to  be 
scattered  and  gathered  in  harvests  of  immensely  augmented  worth. 
A  literature  which  expresses  our  native  peculiarities,  and  adequately 
represents  American  character  and  deeds,  does  not  yet  exist,  and 
this  is  as  much  an  occasion  for  gratitude,  as  it  is  easy  to  be  ex- 
plained. Our  primary  mission  was  to  realize  the  idea  of  a  perfect 
Commonwealth  which  had  stirred  the  greatest  minds  of  every  age 
from  Plato  to  Roger  Williams.  All  history  has  been  but  the  record 
of  human  strivings  after  a  better,  higher,  and  more  perfect  social 
state,  the  inauguration  of  the  age  of  reason  and  righteousness  in  the 
true  sense  of  those  much  abused  words.  Therefore  an  original  po- 
litical literature,  harmonious  with  the  new  position  which  progress- 
ive humanity  had  assumed  away  from  arbitrary  conventionalities, 
was  to  be  our  first  success  ;  and,  to  the  wondering  admiration  of  all 
Europe,  that  has  already  been  achieved.  Starting  from  great  and 
genuine  principles,  laid  down  by  Milton,  Hampden,  and  Sidney,  our 
fathers  erected  a  governmental  model  the  most  perfect  on  earth. 
That,  however,  was  no  provincial  creation,  but  the  first  grand  na- 
tional monument,  which  fortunately  through  successive  generations, 


LITERATURE. 


361 


claimed  the  best  energies  of  all  leading  minds.  Nothing  but  a 
direct  struggle  for  freedom  of  j^erson  and  thought  could  emanci- 


ardent  endeavors  on  a  broader  and  more  tranquil  arena,  its  correl- 
ative, the  creation  of  a  national  fabric  purely  literary,  may  be  con- 
fidently anticipated.  This,  too,  will  not  be  an  aggregate  of  ancient 
provincialisms,  but  an  original  homogeneous  mass  of  American, 
continental  mind,  enriched  from  a  thousand  genuine  sources  of  lo- 
cal sentiments.  The  newest  States  are  in  thought  the  freest  and 
most  original,  which  will  cause  the  whole  country  to  individualize 
itself  more  and  more.  The  gigantic  movement  of  independent 
intellect  toward  the  West  every  hour  deepens  the  contrast  between 
itself  and  the  petty  insipidities  it  leaves  behind.  The  East  has,  in- 
deed, given  the  key-note  to  most  of  our  popular  thinking,  but  the 
West  has  invariably  furnished  the  chief  chorus,  and  spontaneously 
extemporized  every  variation  whose  brilliant  originality  has  ehcited 
thrilling  applause.  New  England  has  been  most  prolific  of  authors, 
but  the  best  of  them  write  away  from  the  narrow  hearth  of  their 
nativity,  or  on  foreign  themes.  Books  are  beginning  to  be  imbued 
with  a  national  spirit,  as  characteristic  as  are  our  institutions ;  and 
the  world  will  probably  not  have  to  wait  long,  before  the  purely 
literary  productions  of  America  will  be  assigned  a  place  equally 
exalted  with  the  master-pieces  of  our  political  science. 

The  best  histories  of  European  literatures,  and  the  sweetest  le- 
gendary songs,  echoing  the  reminiscences  of  the  faded  past,  have 
been  recently  produced  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  appropriate  that 
the  most  attractive  portraiture  of  Columbus  and  his  Companions 
should  be  given  to  the  world  from  the  "  Sunny  Side"  of  the  Hudson ; 
and  the  gifted  historian  of  our  Repubhc  could  hardly  write  with 
adequate  breadth  and  force  except  under  the  expansive  influence  of 
this  mighty  metropolis.  But  how  will  the  poet  sing,  the  critic  dis- 
criminate, and  the  annalist  indite,  when  centuries  shall  have  devel- 
oped the  resources  of  a  hemisphere,  and  gathered  a  galaxy  of  its 
brightest  luminaries  in  central  skies  to  pour  their  combined  efi'ul- 
gence  from  sea  to  sea  and  from  pole  to  pole  ! 

Of  course,  Hterary  excellence  is  as  yet  but  very  imperfectly 


16 


362 


W  ASHINGTQjr, 


attained  in  the  West,  but  all  present  auspices  are  clearly  in- 
dicative of  prospective  worth.  As  in  volcanic  eruptions,  the 
deepest  and  firmest  strata  shoot  to  the  apex  of  the  fiery  cone, 
so  in  self-irapellcd  emigrations  the  best  material  goes  first  and  far- 
thest. The  gTcater  the  remove,  the  more  disenthralled  the  mind, 
and  the  more  copious  of  observation,  as  well  as  profounder  the 
depths  of  reflection,  which  will  have  been  brought  into  view  by  the 
transit.  All  past  literatures  contributed  to  lay  a  deep  and  broad 
foundation  for  our  own  ;  and  every  historic  incident  of  public  life 
with  us,  more  than  in  any  other  nation,  is  closely  related  to  the  es- 
sential nature  and  social  improvement  of  mankind.  Literary  excel- 
lence has  never  moved  eastward  a  furlong  since  thought  began. 
On  the  contrary,  the  course  of  mental  exaltation  and  aggrandize- 
ment is  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction.  Every  body  instinctively 
says  "  down  East"  and  "  out  West,"  since  it  is  felt  to  be  a  univereal 
rule  that  only  in  moving  in  the  latter  direction  is  the  larg-est  lib- 
erty enjoyed.  Years  ago  we  defined  a  westerner  as  being  "  a  Yankee 
expanded,  a  New  Englander  enlarged  and  it  is  ultimately  from 
that  stock,  refined  and  ennobled,  through  the  inspiration  of  the 
majestic  West,  that  our  best  national  literature  will  originate. 

The  literal  invasion  of  savage  forests,  which  is  indispensable  to 
the  expansion  of  our  republican  domain,  has  given  a  designation  to 
another  great  element  of  popular  education  peculiar  to  our  land. 
The  stump,  not  less  than  the  steam  engine,  has  become  the  means 
of  disseminating  knowledge,  and  of  breaking  down  the  influence  of 
both  local  dictation  and  caucus  caballing.  It  is  as  true  as  it  may 
appear  strange,  that  American  eloquence  has  thus  become  most 
analogous  to  Athenian,  and  the  orator  is  made  the  successful  rival 
even  of  the  press.  Not  a  little  of  moral  sublimity  is  presented  by 
a  great  Presidential  canvass,  and  it  is  diflScult  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  valuable  information  on  such  occasions  dififused.  The 
best  talents  of  the  country  traverse  the  whole  nation,  even  the  most 
inaccessible  regions,  like  Peter  the  Hermit,  that  they  may  every- 
where arouse  the  public  mind,  excite  and  feed  its  power  of  thought. 
On  such  occasions  the  remark  of  Lord  Brougham  is  always  verified, 
that  the  speaker  who  lowers  his  composition  in  order  to  accommo- 
date hiinself  to  the  habits  and  tastes  of  the  multitude,  will  find 
that  he  commits  a  gi'ievous  mistake.    Our  promiscuous  assemblies 


LITERATURE. 


363 


are  highly  intelligent,  and,  on  account  of  the  interest  they  take  in 
public  affairs,  they  are  the  most  susceptible  of  improvement.  They 
most  relish  the  logical  statement  of  profound  principles  which  they 
are  sagacious  to  comprehend,  and  zealous  to  re-discuss.  It  is  in 
this  way  that  Bunkum  speeches  sent  to  millions  of  readers,  and  in- 
numerable lectures  delivered  nightly  on  all  sorts  of  subjects  to 
throngs  in  country  and  town,  are  made  doubly  profitable  in  the 
habits  of  reading  and  reasoning  which  they  elicit  and  confirm. 
Nothing  in  the  past  will  compare  with  the  prodigious  excitement 
which  precedes  popular  elections  in  America,  and  the  general 
calm  which  immediately  follows.  It  is  a  sublime  process  of  uni- 
versal education,  the  best  adapted  to  perfect  and  perpetuate  the 
free  institutions  in  the  bosom  of  which  it  had  its  birth.  Having 
inquired  into  the  origin  of  representative  government,  Montesquieu 
declared  that  "  this  noble  system  was  first  found  in  the  woods  of 
Germany."  It  has  ever  improved  in  exact  proportion  as  it  has  re- 
moved from  its  original  source,  and  the  masses  last  gathered  to  its 
embrace  seem  to  be  most  rapidly  and  thoroughly  transformed  by 
its  worth.  Enlightened  and  heroical,  they  repudiate  the  aristocratic 
system,  according  to  which  a  person  is  born  to  a  position  of  sov- 
ereignty merely  because  he  has  been  born  into  a  pnvnleged  class  ; 
and  firmly  cling  to  the  democratic  rule,  wherein  an  individual  is 
born  to  a  position  of  sovereignty  by  the  simple  fact  that  he  is  born 
human.  Of  all  earth's  institutions,  the  American  Republic  stands 
supreme,  as  being  the  first  open  university  of  this  doctrine  ;  and  we 
have  the  best  reasons  to  believe  that  mankind,  without  exception, 
will  yet  become  its  happy  and  honored  alumni. 

George  Berkeley  and  Roger  Williams  were  both  educated  at 
Christ  Church  College,  Oxford.  How  great  is  the  contrast  between 
the  traditional  conservatism  of  mediaeval  universities  as  they  exist 
in  old  England  at  the  present  day,  and  the  literary  spirit  so  free 
and  progressive  in  young  America.  The  greatest  boast  of  the  for- 
mer is  that  they  remain  just  where  Wykeham,  Waynfleet,  and 
Wolsey  left  them,  and  that  they  have  neither  advanced  nor  changed 
the  system  of  education  since  they  were  founded.  We  have  before 
alluded  to  the  fact,  that  it  was  the  zeal  of  commoners  and  not  the 
munificence  of  kings  which  almost  wholly  created  both  universi- 
ties ;  and  when  those  great  institutions,  designed  for  the  general 


364 


WASHINGTON. 


good,  were  perverted  into  the  liot-beds  of  regal  pride  and  aristo- 
cratic exclusiveness,  their  chief  power  was  at  an  end.  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  were  influential  on  the  popular  mind  only  so  far  as  they 
were  the  exponents  and  promoters  of  its  intelligence.  Since  they 
have  declined  further  to  co-operate  in  this,  they  possess  httle  value 
save  as  venerable  monuments  of  the  past,  retreats  w^lierein  the  great 
pioneers  of  the  age  of  Washington  were  trained.  In  addition  to 
Berkeley  and  Williams,  they  fostered  the  republican  spirit  of  Milton, 
the  illustrious  bard  and  patriot  who  chanted  the  high  praises  of 
liberty  in  his  Defenses  of  the  People  of  England,  in  his  Apology 
for  the  Liberty  of  the  Press,  and  in  his  Causes  of  the  Reformation 
in  England.  How  glorious  to  behold  him  emerging  from  "  those 
dark  ages  wherein  the  huge  overshadowing  train  of  error  had 
almost  swept  all  the  stars  out  of  the  firmament  of  the  church ;" 
warning  his  countrymen  "  that  unless  their  liberty  be  of  a  kind  such 
as  arms  can  neither  procure  nor  take  away,  which  alone  is  the  fruit 
of  piety,  justice,  temperance,  and  unadulterated  virtue  ;  they  may 
only  be  seen  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  perish  in  the  smoke ;" 
pleading  for  "  a  book  as  containing  a  progeny  of  life  in  it,  active 
as  that  soul  whose  progeny  it  is,  and  preserving  as  in  a  vial  the 
purest  extraction  of  the  Hving  intellect  which  bred  it reminding 
his  countrymen  "  that  they  might  as  well  almost  kill  a  man  as  kill 
a  good  book,  because  who  kills  a  man,  kills  a  reasonable  creature, 
God's  image,  but  who  destroys  a  good  book,  kills  reason  itself,  kills 
the  image  of  God  as  it  were  in  the  eye."  Of  a  kindred  spirit  was 
Algernon  Sidney  to  whom  we  owe  those  great  and  eloquent  Dis- 
courses which  our  fathers  studied  as  the  first  complete  definition 
and  exegesis  of  the  nature  and  duties  of  government ;  so  full  of 
brave  and  noble  sentences,  forever  setting  the  indignant  foot  on 
the  divine  rights  of  kings  ;  and  asserting  that  "  He  that  oppugns 
the  public  liberty  overthrows  his  own,  and  is  guilty  of  the  most 
brutish  of  all  follies,  while  he  arrogates  to  himself  that  which  he 
denies  to  all  men,"  and  maintaining  throughout  the  essential  mon- 
archy of  the  people.  In  due  time  followed  the  magnificent  Burke, 
amid  whose  stormy  invectives  against  the  excesses  of  freedom,  are 
many  rich  and  profound  truths.  Nor  less  useful  to  the  cause  of 
literary  and  political  progress  was  his  great  rival,  the  critic,  jurist, 
and  reformer,  Mackintosh,  who  prophesied  the  downfall  of  spiritual 


LITERATURE. 


365 


power  before  the  close  of  the  nineteentli  century,  and  was  always 
the  jealous  defender  of  popular  rights. 

Cotemporaneous  with  these  latter  heroes  in  literature,  and  ex- 
tending with  enhanced  splendor  of  inspiration  and  eflfects  to  our 
own  day,  what  a  magnificent  series  of  mental  producers  has  this 
republic  reared  and  enjoyed !  It  is  prophetic  of  a  yet  loftier  and 
more  glorious  improvement,  that  when  ennobling  truths  have  once 
been  announced,  they  can  never  be  thrown  back  into  obscurity  or 
indifference ;  but  must  spread  through  the  world,  to  become  a  por- 
tion of  the  intellectual  atmosphere  of  nations,  and  give  tone  and 
temper  to  all  rising  minds.  Great  thinkers  are  chosen  to  lead  the 
world  forward,  until,  not  for  possessions  but  virtues,  not  for  his 
trappings  but  for  himself,  man  is  respected,  and  the  rights  of  a  com- 
mon humanity  are  everywhere  enjoyed. 

We  believe  that  the  destiny  of  humanity  is  accomplished,  not 
by  revolving  in  a  circle,  but  by  a  spiral  ascent,  and  that  a  fi-ee  lite- 
rature is  its  brighest  precursor  and  accompaniment.  Mental  liberty 
must  be  regarded  as  an  operative  cause  the  most  powerful  in  the 
redemption  of  every  suffering  class.  Its  champions,  though  they 
perish,  are  the  world's  martyrs.  Hearts  everywhere  beat  quicker 
when  their  names  are  mentioned,  the  scenes  of  their  heroism  are 
perpetually  hallowed,  and  their  memory  becomes  a  universal  relig- 
ion. When  the  Bastile  fell,  the  source  of  their  beneficent  might 
was  remembered  by  the  victors,  who  sent  the  huge  key  to  Mount 
Vernon.  We  may  be  assured  that  when  all  nations  shall  have 
been  regenerated  through  governments  which  shall  exist  by  and 
for  the  people — when  liberty  shall  have  so  far  brought  dignity  of 
character  and  excellence  in  literature,  as  to  lead  the  masses  to  ask. 
"  Where  are  the  powers  which  wrought  this  great  and  glorious 
change  ?"  Heaven  and  earth  shall  reply,  "  Among  those  powers 
— yea,  foremost  in  its  energetic  and  comprehensive  efficacy  was 
the  inspired  pen,  not  less  than  the  victorious  sword,  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution." 

The  main  stream  of  the  historic  nations,  with  their  progressive 
literature,  has  always  flowed  toward  the  north-west.  The  original 
start  of  this  world-wide  migration  was  long  anterior  to  the  times 
when  the  soil  of  Europe  was  trodden  by  Greeks,  Romans,  Sclavo- 
nians,  Germans,  or  Celts.    But  however  remote  was  the  first  im- 


366 


WASHINGTON. 


pulse,  the  irresistible  spell  lias  only  deepened  with  its  advancement, 
and  in  our  day  sends  the  sanie  Japhetic  tribes  to  settle  on  western 
prairies,  or  explore  the  regions  of  gold  beyond.  Intestine  wars, 
which  constituted  the  chief  barrier  to  general  progress,  are  most 
commonly  excited  by  diflference  of  races.  But  under  our  national 
banner  all  active  elements,  even  the  most  opposite,  are  gathering 
and  becoming  rapidly  fused  into  each  other,  so  as  to  form  one 
homogeneous  and  luminous  whole.  Civilization  is  contagious,  and 
of  all  sovereigns  Liberty  is  most  pacific  toward  her  admirers. 
Identity  of  language  is  a  mighty  auxiliary  to  elevating  equality, 
and  the  subjugation  of  this  continent  to  the  sway  of  our  native 
literature  will  present  the  most  magnificent  trophy  that  ever  signal- 
ized the  triumph  of  civilization.  That  this  will  eventually  be 
accomplished  by  literary  Americans,  whose  sphere  of  thought  will 
be  as  central  as  it  will  be  both  elevated  and  comprehensive,  ought 
not  for  a  moment  to  be  doubted.  Thus  far  we  have  produced  only 
a  border  literature,  narrow  as  the  place  of  its  birth,  and  frigid  like 
the  clime.  But  when  an  adequate  field  shall  have  been  cleared 
near  the  centre  of  our  domain,  wherein  intellect  may  extend  an 
unfettered  grasp,  and  leisure  is  attained  for  elaborate  composition, 
remote  from  foreign  models  and  independent  of  petty  criticism, 
then  the  world  will  see  realized  a  literature  commensurate  with 
the  vastness  of  the  western  republic,  and  rich  enough  to  endow  all 
her  children  with  more  than  eastern  wealth. 

Coincident  with  the  planting  of  the  last  English  colony  in 
America,  Leibnitz  came  forward  at  Berlin  with  his  comparative 
philosophy  of  language,  and  was  the  first  successful  classifier  of  the 
tongues  then  known.  The  next  step  of  advancement  in  this  funda- 
mental path  of  hterature  was  taken  in  England,  in  1751,  by  John 
Harris,  who,  in  his  "  Hermes,"  laid  the  foundation  of  grammatical 
philosophy  on  the  largest  scale.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the 
third  prominent  step  in  the  same  direction  should  be  taken  "by  an 
American,  whose  great  national  work  on  the  Indian  tribes  was,  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1847,  authorized  by  Congress  to  be  published, 
by  special  act.  Not  to  anticipate  our  review  of  science  in  this  age, 
we  may  simply  remark  that  another  national  publication,  that  of 
Squier  on  the  ancient  monuments  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  has 
excited  the  most  lively  interest  throughout  the  archaeological  world, 


LITERATURE, 


367 


and  recently  won  its  richest  medal.  In  reference  to  the  above^ 
mentioned  work  by  Doctor  Schoolcraft,  Doctor  Bunsen  says  :  "  In 
1850,  the  first  volume  of  that  gigantic  work  appeared,  and  now  a 
thh'd  volume,  printed  in  1853,  has  been  transmitted  to  me  by  the 
liberality  of  that  government.  It  may  fairly  be  said  that,  by  this 
great  national  and  Christian  undertaking,  which  realizes  the  aspira- 
tions of  President  Jefferson,  and  carries  out  to  their  full  extent  the 
labors  and  efiforts  of  a  Secretary  of  State,  the  Honorable  Albert 
Gallatin,  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  done  more  for 
the  antiquities  and  language  of  a  foreign  race  than  any  European 
government  has  hitherto  done  for  the  language  of  their  ancestors." 

In  the  mental,  not  less  than  in  the  material  world,  this  one 
rule  universally  obtains,  that,  the  higher  the  nature,  and  the  more 
important  the  influence  of  a  given  effect^  the  more  deliberate  is  its 
march  toward  perfectibility  and  development.  If  our  literature  is 
yet  as  youthful  as  it  has  been  slow,  it  has  at  least  furnished  abund- 
ant indications  that  a  great  original  career  has  actually  begun,  and 
under  auspices  which  promise  the  most  brilliant  success.  Both  in 
men  and  animals  a  mixture  of  races  differing  from  each  other,  but 
not  too  far  differenced,  is  a  circumstance  which  tends  most  to  the 
improvement  of  the  species ;  and  in  the  history  of  letters,  all  that  is 
greatest  and  best  has  been  accomplished  by  the  most  mixed  races 
of  mankind.  Diversified  currents  of  free  thought,  as  gigantic  as 
the  rivers  which  reflect  our  central  mountains,  and  irrigate  the  im- 
mensity of  their  intervales,  are  pouring  from  the  Atlantic  toward 
the  Pacific-  shores.  On  their  way,  they  will  mingle  and  blend  in 
an  amalgam  deeper,  broader,  and  richer  than  the  preceding  world 
ever  saw.  As  of  old,  the  elegance  of  the  Asiatic  will  be  sustained 
by  the  vigor  of  the  Dorian,  while  each  lends  the  other  that  quality 
without  which  neither  could  well  succeed,  but  by  which  multi- 
farious co-operation,  an  aggregate  of  consummate  worth  will  be 
iittained- 

With  reference  to  a  worthy  national  literature,  we  are  drifting  in 
a  right  direction ;  and  whatever  others  may  fear  in  consequence  of 
quitting  antiquated  channels  and  familiar  scenes,  we  have  good 
reasons  for  indulging  in  sanguine  hope.  All  past  experience  sug- 
gests the  expansion  of  our  westward  chart,  and  promises  the  richest 
discoveries  the  bolder  we  venture  forth.    No  nation  can  be  debased 


368 


WASHINGTON. 


through  an  excess  of  wealth,  luxury,  and  power,  so  long  as  a  har- 
mony is  maintained  between  its  institutions  and  the  progress  of 
untrammeled  opinion.  Political  life,  as  well  as  moral,  is  but  a  series 
of  regenerations ;  and  that  nation  which  has  longest  braved  the 
severest  storms,  where  the  winds  are  comparatively  free,  has  grown 
stronger  in  the  tumult  than  in  the  calm,  and  now  possesses  the 
greatest  energy  of  youth  in  those  who  are  most  rebellious  against 
antique  wrongs.  We  began  with  this  juvenile  energy,  and  are 
maturing  its  best  strength  on  the  fruits  of  all  anterior  struggles. 
Former  heroes,  in  their  blind  madness,  may  have  pulled  down  the 
temple  of  ancient  civilization  on  their  shoulders,  and  buried  them- 
selves beneath  its  ruins ;  but  there  is  a  resurrection  vouchsafed  to 
all  immortal  life,  and  its  mightiest  manifestations  of  every  type  are 
renewed  on  our  shores.  If  this  continent  has  longest  lain  fallow,  it 
is  that  the  resuscitated  energies  of  redeemed  humanity  may  produce 
their  mightiest  fruits  thereon. 

Wonderful  works,  produced  in  distant  regions  and  at  various 
times,  reduplicate  their  latent  productiveness  as  they  proceed  from 
age  to  age,  creating  an  interminable  progeny  of  ideas,  and  attesting 
the  vitality  of  genius  evermore.  This  is  the  true  transmigrator, 
traversing  all  eras,  and  maintaining  a  prolific  life  amid  eveiy 
variety  of  vicissitude,  kindred  to  the  Great  Intelligence,  by  whose 
mandate  respecting  human  destinies,  as  in  material  things,  all  con- 
comitants may  be  changed,  but  nothing  of  utility  is  to  be  destroyed. 
What  would  have  been  the  present  moral  condition  of  the  world  if 
the  Hebrew  poetry  had  never  been  translated ;  if  the  revival  of  the 
study  of  the  Greek  literature  had  never  taken  place ;  if  Raphael 
and  Michael  Angelo  had  never  been  born ;  if  Dante,  Petrarch,  Boc- 
cacio,  Chaucer,  Shakspeare,  Calderon,  Lord  Bacon,  and  Milton  had 
never  existed ;  if  no  monuments  of  ancient  art  had  been  handed 
down  to  us ;  and  if  the  poetry  of  the  ancient  religion  had  been  ex- 
tinguished with  its  belief?  But  by  the  intervention  of  these  and 
other  like  excitements,  the  human  mind  has  been  awakened  to  the 
inventions  of  modern  science,  and  the  creation  of  recent  literatures, 
which  transcend  in  actual  vforth  all  the  masterpieces  of  ancient 
times.  Hereby  is  the  continuity  of  society,  its  progress  and  civiliza- 
tion secured.  Many  a  noble  head  and  heart  are  dust,  but  every 
ennobHng  thought  emanating  thence,  however  long  ago,  is  now 


LITERATURE. 


369 


alive,  and  will  forever  be.  Each  drop  blends  with  that  great  wave 
of  progress,  the  movement  of  the  entire  ocean  of  mind,  which  is 
commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  the  mass  to  be  moved.  In 
due  time,  the  final  result  of  almighty  love  will  be  joyfully  realized. 
All  noble  growths  are  gradual,  and  that  beneficent  power  which  is 
destined  to  become  superior  over  every  other,  moves  with  a  slow- 
ness the  most  sublime  in  controlling  subordinate  ministrations  to 
kuman  weal.  Divine  logic  will  not  be  less  conclusive  on  account 
of  the  multitude  of  its  cumulative  data,  or  the  deliberateness  of  its 
deductions  therefi'om.  As  Giiizot  suggests,  Provddence  moves 
through  time  as  the  gods  of  Homer  through  space — it  takes  a  step, 
and  ages  have  rolled  away  ! 

History  ever  tends  to  authenticate  the  fact  that  there  is  a  general 
civilization  of  the  whole  human  race,  and  a  destiny  to  be  accom- 
plished through  a  prescribed  course,  in  which  each  nation  trans- 
mits to  its  successors  the  wealth  of  every  superseded  age,  thus 
contributing  to  an  aggregated  store  which  is  to  be  perpetually  aug- 
mented for  the  common  good.  This  is  the  noblest  as  well  as  most 
interesting  view  to  be  taken  of  progressive  humanity,  as  it  compre- 
hends every  other,  and  furnishes  the  only  true  interpretation.  In 
regard  to  depth  of  feeling  and  diversity  of  ideas,  modern  literature 
is  infinitely  more  profound  and  affluent  than  that  of  the  ancients. 
It  may  not  be  more  perfect  in  form,  but  it  greatly  excels  in  practi- 
calness, and  moral  worth.  It  is  in  this  variety  of  elements,  and 
the  sublime  identity  of  purpose  manifested  in  their  constant  strug- 
gle, that  the  essential  superiority  of  our  civilization  consists.  The 
proof  of  this  has  been  presented  in  all  the  vast  assemblage  of  facts 
which  human  annals  have  preserved.  These  connect  causes  with 
their  efiects,  thus  constituting  events  which,  when  they  are  once 
consummated,  form  the  immortal  portion  of  history,  and  are  to  be 
studied  as  the  soul  of  the  past,  the  groundwork  of  present  improve- 
ment, and  a  secure  guaranty  of  still  greater  excellence  in  the  future. 
A  yearning  after  generalization^  as  the  basis  of  improved  literary 
and  spiritual  progress,  is  the  noblest  and  most  powerful  of  all  our 
intellectual  desires  ;  and  it  is  a  very  great  privilege  to  be  bom  in 
an  age  and  country  where  this  aspiration  may  with  the  most  ra- 
tional zeal  be  indulged. 

Literature  is  not  only  associated  legitimately  with  all  that  is 

]6* 


370 


WASHINGTON. 


great  and  dignified  in  the  manifestations  of  human  power,  but,  in 
our  age,  it  also  assumes  the  most  solemn  if  not  the  most  sublime 
of  characters.  Some  are  bold  to  teach,  like  Fichte,  that  there  is  a 
Divine  Idea  pervading  the  visible  universe,  which  visible  universe 
is  but  its  symbol  and  personification,  animated  by  the  principle  of 
vitality.  To  discern  and  grasp  this,  to  live  wholly  in  it,  is  the 
privilege  and  vocation  of  virtue,  knowledge,  freedom ;  and  the  end, 
therefore,  of  all  intellectual  efforts  in  every  age.  Literary  men  are 
the  interpreters  of  this  latent  enigma,  a  perpetual  priesthood,  stand- 
ing forth,  generation  after  generation,  as  the  dispensers  and  living 
types  of  God's  everlasting  wisdom,  commissioned  to  make  it  mani- 
fest, to  reveal  and  embody  it  by  successive  fragments  in  their  works. 
Each  age,  by  its  inherent  tendencies,  is  different  from  every  other 
age,  and  demands  a  different  manifestation  of  the  eternal  purpose. 
Hence  every  laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  letters  must  be  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  sj)irit  of  his  age  if  he  would  be  permanently  use- 
ful ;  while  he  who  is  not  thus  inspired,  soon  becomes  a  mere  groper 
in  the  dark,  both  benighted  and  impotent.  This  view  explains  the 
true  civilizing  principle  of  literature,  and  expands  it  so  as  to  em- 
brace all  things  human  and  divine.  It  is  not  only  the  expression 
of  society,  but  also  its  very  life  and  soul,  and  may  either  be  a  pow- 
erful instrument  for  creation  and  regeneration,  or  a  fatal  one  for 
destruction.  There  is  a  reciprocal  influence  between  an  age  and 
the  books  it  engenders,  as  there  is  between  the  lettered  spirit  and 
its  living  use.  The  heroic  grandeur  of  Greece  inspired  Homer; 
but  it  was  from  Homer  that  its  civilization  sprang.  The  first  epic 
then  garnered  into  itself  all  antecedent  history,  and  opened  a  chan- 
nel wherein  succeeding  generations  might  inherit  all  that  bygone 
efforts  and  innovations  had  produced.  Great  and  revered  models 
of  subsequent  nations  have  since  been  grafted  upon  the  original 
stock  of  literary  worth,  from  which  must  surely  result  both  prose 
and  poetical  monuments  of  a  comprehensive  unity  and  force 
commensurate  with  the  age  reserved  for  their  transcendent  excel- 
lence. 

As  we  best  prepare  a  people  for  a  high  Christianity  by  begin- 
ning to  preach  to  it  at  once,  so  we  can  not  otherwise  fit  nations  to 
enjoy  liberty  than  by  directly  inculcating  among  them  its  worth, 
through  the  medium  of  a  free  literature ;  and  it  is  certain  that  of 


LITEK  ATURE. 


371 


all  nations  belonging  to  the  progressive  family,  Americans  are  best 
prepared  for  this  mission,  since  they  have  most  desired  and  insisted 
upon  it  since  the  birth  of  the  republic.  As  the  Greeks  were  more 
fitted  for  the  fine  arts  than  the  Romans,  and  the  latter  were 
mightier  in  arms  than  the  Mediaevals  whom  Providence  sent  forth 
as  the  missionaries  of  a  renewed  advancement,  when  the  restoration 
of  learning  prepared  the  way  for  still  greater  achievements,  so  is  it 
the  manifest  destiny  of  the  age  of  Washington  to  diff'use  in  wider 
and  deeper  profusion  the  most  humanizing  blessings,  and  thus  to 
conduct  instrumentally  to  that  perfection  of  civilization  for  whicl 
earth  and  man  were  designed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ART. 

In  considering  the  condition  and  prospects  of  art  in  the  present 
age,  let  us,  as  heretofore,  glance  at  the  several  departments  of  ar- 
chitecture, sculpture,  and  painting,  consecutively,  according  to  their 
natural  order  and  relative  merits. 

Archaeology  is  at  present  achieving  for  prospective  art  just  what 
geology  ;s  contributing  to  the  progress  of  natural  science.  Crumb- 
ling relics  and  fossil  impressions  are  everywhere  exhumed,  classified 
and  published  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  our  true  relation  to 
historical  art  and  progressive  civilization.  From  this  source  more 
copious  materials  are  derived,  and  a  surer  as  well  as  better  means 
than  language  affords  for  solving  the  greatest  of  social  problems, 
since  there  is  more  authentic  history  built  into  the  walls  of  the 
Eg-}^tian  temples,  or  those  of  Greece,  or  the  cathedi-als  of  the  me- 
diaeval West,  than  exists  in  all  the  chronicles  that  ever  were  written. 
The  successive  masterpieces  of  monumental  art  are  unaltered  co* 
temporary  records  which,  in  the  age  of  Washington,  are  becoming 
easily  read,  and  most  lucidly  translated  into  the  universal  language 
of  mankind.  The  buildings  and  subordinate  artistic  productions 
of  each  historic  people  tell  their  own  tale,  and  can  never  be  entirely 
falsified  by  time  or  the  blunders  of  copyists ;  but  remain  as  left  by 
their  originators,  with  the  undying  impress  of  their  aspirations,  or 
their  vagaries,  stamped  in  characters  of  adamant. 

Alexander,  the  great  transition -servitor  of  Providence  in  the  ear- 
lier ages  of  progress,  had  been  prompted  to  visit  the  temples  of 
Ammon,  by  the  tradition  that  they  had  been  visited  by  his  ancestor, 
Perseus,  in  his  expedition  against  Medusa,  and  Hercules,  after  the 
victory  of  Busiris.  Differently  inspired,  but  for  the  same  final  end, 
the  great  Corsican,  born  out  of  Europe,  and  eager  to  impel  the  car 


ART. 


373 


of  empire  even  beyond  his  native  island-home,  signahzed  his  des- 
tiny ^vhen  he  reached  the  same  meeting-place  of  the  obsolete  and 
progressive  nations,  exclaiming,  "Soldiers!  from  the  summit  of 
yonder  pyramids  forty  centuries  behold  you."  The  pilgrim,  the 
crusader,  and  the  Hadgi,  had  successively  brought  back  from  those 
remote  regions  some  degree  of  that  veneration  which  is  connected 
with  hazards  undergone  from  religious  impulses.  But  with  his 
savans  round  him,  and  all  France  quickened  by  an  impulse  from 
America  into  a  higher  life,  Napoleon's  campaign  in  the  land  of 
Ham,  first  in  the  history  of  our  race,  was  the  glorious  conquest  of 
arts  as  well  as  of  arms.  The  Pyramids,  like  the  shrines  of  Ammon, 
were  temples ;  and  they  had  been  the  immemorial  centre  of  art 
and  science.  The  secrets  of  all  the  natural  knowledge,  the  high 
historic  memories,  and  the  mystic  rites,  of  the  ancient  land  of  wis- 
dom, seemed  to  be  there  still,  hidden  in  those  profound  treasuries 
of  rock,  which  neither  time,  conquest,  nor  curiosity,  had  been  able 
to  penetrate.  But  what  was  then  accomplished  deserves  especial 
regard  and  gratitude.  Connoisseurs  of  recondite  skill  and  acute 
discrimination,  led  by  their  sagacious  champion,  penetrated  to  the 
profoundest  chamber,  wherein,  some  three  thousand  years  before, 
some  Pharaoh  had  been  interred,  and  thence  gleaned  the  richest 
store  of  antique  memorials  to  be  preserved  and  interpreted  in  other 
climes.  The  only  army  on  earth  who  could  endure  the  fatigues 
of  such  an  enterprise  w^ere  employed  to  collect  the  needed  mate- 
rials of  advancing  civilization ;  and  then  another  providential  act, 
equally  significant,  bore  those  treasures  to  London  and  not  to  Paris. 
All  the  oldest  and  most  enduring  worth  is  rapidly  concentrating  in 
the  youngest  and  most  progressive  race.  When  we  come  to  speak 
of  sculptural  art,  and  of  its  relation  to  the  amelioration  of  universal 
mind,  we  shall  more  particularly  refer  to  the  wonderful  manner  in 
which  "  the  Rosetta  stone"  came  into  English  hands. 

Under  the  same  roof  which  protects  the  Egyptian  antiquities  in 
the  British  Museum,  are  the  Elgin  Marbles,  those  glorious  frag- 
ments of  Athens  and  the  Parthenon.  Their  greatness  of  manner  is 
far  more  imposing  than  any  mere  bulk  and  extent ;  and  more  orig- 
inal skill  and  science,  more  artistic  talent  is  displayed  in  those 
mutilated  models  alone,  than  in  all  other  classical  remains  extant. 
Subsequent  creations  are  the  branches  only,  but  the  Parthenon  is 


374 


^  WASHINGTON. 


the  root  from  wliicli  their  broad  and  beautiful  cbaracteristics  are 
undoubtedly  derived.  It  is  indeed  strange  that,  although  the  archi- 
tecture of  Rome  sprung  from  that  of  Greece,  and  all  modern  styles 
were  derived,  through  Rome,  from  the  same  source,  never  until  our 
day  was  discovered  the  most  striking  peculiarity  of  Grecian  de- 
sign. It  was  reserved  for  an  English  architect,  Mr.  F.  C.  Penrose, 
to  demonstrate  the  mathematical  and  optical  principles  on  which, 
apparently,  the  whole  art  was  founded.  The  Parthenon  taught 
him  the  brilliant  truth  that  there  is  not  a  straight  line  in  the 
building  ;  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  such  is  the  rule 
with  respect  to  other  important  Greek  structures.  Mathematical 
curves,  accurately  calculated,  were  made  to  correct  the  disagreea- 
ble effect  which  a  perfect  straight  line  has  to  a  practiced  eye ;  but 
the  delicate  taste  which  thus  carried  classicalism  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  refinement,  remained  in  abeyance  until  the  dawn  of  an 
age  in  which  monumental  art  will  first  revive  all  previous  excel- 
lences, and  then  excel  what  it  supersedes. 

Not  only  has  this  age  opened  with  an  unprecedented  acquaint- 
ance with  Egyptian  art  treasures,  and  a  more  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  architectural  monuments  of  Greece,  but  we  also  enjoy  the 
advantage  of  other  great  external  aids,  such  as  the  excavation  of 
the  buried  cities  skirting  Vesuvius,  and  the  unexpectedly  rich  dis- 
covery of  Etruscan  tombs.  As  the  fitting  concomitant  of  these 
startling  revelations,  the  great  mind  of  Winckleman  was  prepared 
to  give  a  luminous  interpretation  thereof ;  and  correlative  attempts 
were  made  by  other  masters  to  treat  art  historically  and  philosoph- 
ically in  the  presence  of  innumerable  pupils  zealous  in  antiquarian 
research.  Referring  to  the  destruction  of  Herculaneum  and  Pom- 
peii, Goethe  remarks :  "  Many  a  calamity  has  befallen  the  world 
ere  now,  yet  none  like  this,  replete  with  instruction  and  delight  for 
remote  generations."  No  graphic  power  can  convey  to  a  stranger 
•  an  adequate  idea  of  the  affluence  of  objects  intensely  interesting 
connected  with  these  cities  so  long  buried,  and  recently  disinterred. 
Successive  streets  of  plebeian  homes,  but  pillared  and  sculptured 
as  if  they  were  the  abodes  of  patricians,  intersecting  the  radiant 
confusion  of  theatres  and  temples,  imbue  the  visitor  with  that 
blended  sense  of  beauty  defying  decay,  of  hoary  antiquity,  and  of 
thrilling  domestic  incident,  which  can  be  felt  only  amid  the  solemn 


ART. 


375 


stillness  of  the  excavated  city.  The  baptism  of  fire  here  became,  in 
the  highest  degree  conservative.  It  filled  up  with  its  train  the  gap 
of  eighteen  centuries,  and  has  made  "the  trivial  fond  records" 
which  the  prints  of  hurried  footsteps  and  trembling  figures  imply, 
immortal  in  the  marl  which  hardened  over  them,  and  has  left  them 
as  touching  as  if  they  told  the  fate  of  some  ancient  friends.  Here 
we  have  the  ancients  as  they  lived,  with  many  of  their  houses 
adorned  with  the  wonderful  efforts  of  Greek  genius,  skillfully  copied 
by  Roman  art.  We  look  at  them,  astonished  and  enraptured  at 
the  gorgeous  pomp,  and  at  the  luxurious  richness  of  which  the 
East  has  ever  been  so  proud.  The  superb  collection  of  varied  art 
which  has  so  recently  been  rescued  from  the  ruined  city,  opens  to 
our  age  a  new  school  of  study,  and  most  strikingly  exemplifies  the 
progressive  changes  which  befell  art  from  Pericles  to  Augustus,  from 
eastern  Greece  to  western  Italy. 

Still  more  startling  are  the  developments  recently  made  at  Nin- 
eveh. Like  a  second  Pompeii,  it  has  revealed  the  secrets  of  the 
inner  life  of  a  people,  the  scene  of  whose  existence  had  long  been 
forgotten.  One  of  the  fairest  and  most  celebrated  cities  of  the 
earth,  and  the  capital  of  a  mighty  empire,  its  very  site  was  for 
centuries  unknown,  and  its  name  had  become  a  by-word  among 
nations.  Buried  beneath  the  ruins  of  its  own  greatness,  the  sun  no 
longer  shone  on  its  colossal  walls,  its  palaces  and  its  temples.  The 
wandering  Arab  and  the  enlightened  European,  alike  ignorant  of 
the  treasures  beneath  their  feet,  rode  over  the  plain  beneath  which 
lay  buried  the  pride  of  Asshur  and  all  the  glories  of  the  magnificent 
Semiramis.  That  which  Jonah  describes  as  "  an  exceeding  great 
city  of  three  days'  journey,"  and  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us  was  sixty 
miles  in  circuit ;  that  which  had  once  been  the  centre  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  scene  of  the  utmost  barbaric  splendor,  had  sunk  in 
awful  silence  and  desolation.  The  change  in  the  general  aspect  of 
the  region,  and  the  total  disappearance  of  the  mighty  metropolis 
and  its  records,  were  perfectly  appalling,  until  one  English  scholar 
wandered  there  to  discover  the  strange  monuments,  and  another 
fitting  co-operative,  Rawlinson,  was  raised  up  to  read  them.  No  one 
appears  to  have  explored  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  from  about  six  hun- 
dred years  before  Christ,  when  it  was  taken  by  Cyaxares,  to  the 
day  when  Layard  displayed  its  subterranean  mysteries  to  a  wonder- 


376 


WASHINGTON. 


ing  world.  During  this  long  lapse  of  centuries,  empires  had  risen  and 
been  swept  away,  and  two  new  creeds,  Christianity  and  Mohammed- 
anism, had  spread  over  the  earth,  when  slowly  and  subhmely  rising 
from  their  colossal  tomb,  came  forth  the  winged  forms  of  fearful 
majesty,  and  were  borne  to  the  remote  West  on  the  bosom  of  that 
mightier  civilization  behind  which  they  had  lingered  so  long. 

The  best  specimens  of  original  art  in  every  successive  monument- 
al style  are  thus  collected  in  London,  and  form  the  finest  illustra- 
tion of  consecutive  development ;  but  at  the  same  time  old  England 
is  the  least  original  in  her  new  buildings.  The  greatest  wonder  in 
the  three  kingdoms  at  the  present  day  is  a  monster  of  talent,  and 
not  a  model  of  genius,  a  huge  in  closure  of  iron  and  glass,  without 
a  single  new  molding  or  other  feature  of  recent  invention.  But 
what  deserves  particular  notice  is  the  fact,  that  within  that  vast 
non-architectural  structure  is  the  finest,  and  probably  the  first, 
chronological  exemplification  of  all  the  great  national  styles  of  pre- 
ceding times.  Like  most  modern  buildings,  these  specimen-forms 
are  executed  in  unsubstantial  materials,  disguised  so  as  to  represent 
precious  and  praiseworthy  works.  The  Egyptian,  Greek,  Roman, 
Byzantine,  Alhambra,  Mediaeval,  Renaissance,  Pompeian,  and  Nin- 
eveh courts,  show  at  a  glance  what  affluence  of  architectural  inven- 
tion in  past  ages  existed  in  the  East,  and  how  debased  became  all 
attempts  in  this  department  of  art  in  western  Europe  before  Amer- 
ican colonization  began.  It  would  seem  as  if  heaven  designed  that 
nothing  of  marked  character  should  be  imported  to  interfere  with 
early  tendencies  toward  originality  in  this  new  artistic  sphere,  and 
that  afterward  all  select  reminiscences  of  the  old  world  should  be 
wafted  toward  us  as  fast  as  indigenous  taste  and  power  might  arise 
to  require  their  support  and  assimilate  their  worth. 

The  Virginia  colony  transferred  with  but  little  change  the  de- 
graded cruciform  type  of  sacred  architecture  common  to  the  mother 
church  of  that  day,  and  which  decayed  utterly  with  her  enforced 
spiritual  dominion.  The  primitive  churches,  such  as  those  at 
Jamestown,  Hampton,  and  Petersburg,  are  the  most  picturesque  and 
complete  ruins  in  the  United  States.  The  Puritans,  on  the  contrary, 
built  in  a  manner  astutely  original,  and  their  rectangular  ugliness 
remaineth  unto  this  day.  The  early  buildings  of  New  England, 
and  in  the  Middle  States,  both  civic  and  sacred,  unsymmetrical  and 


ART. 


377 


uncouth  as  they  may  appear,  have  yet  an  air  of  originality  and 
strength  which  will  greatly  tend  to  perpetuate  the  characteristic 
hardihood  of  their  origin.  Greek  and  Roman  temples  in  small,  and 
miniature  cathedrals  of  mediaeval  design,  executed  m  heterogene- 
ous materials  and  w^th  excruciating  anomaHes,  are  springing  up  in 
every  ambitious  town.  But  the  most  of  these  are  insipid,  hollow, 
and  contemptible  shams,  compared  with  the  plain  and  truthful, 
though  unartistic  edifices  which  our  earnest  fathers  built.  As  soon 
as  the  passion  for  paltry  imitation  shall  have  exhausted  its  inanity, 
we  shall  see  a  rugged  germ  of  originality  spring  from  that  stock, 
which  will  grow  mto  a  worthy  type  of  American  monumental  art. 

Several  indications  already  justify  this  hope.  In  the  first  place, 
in  all  the  great  works  which  require  the  blendmg  of  inventive  genius 
with  constructive  skill,  and  which  are  made  flexile  as  well  as  firm 
in  their  adaptation  to  novel  emergencies  and  the  most  available  use, 
our  countrymen  have  no  superiors  on  earth.  Our  engineering 
works  and  national  fabrics  of  every  sort  are  confessedly  unexcelled. 
Structures  of  popular  taste  and  public  utility,  such  as  stores,  banks, 
hotels,  and  ships,  are  universally  acknowledged  to  be  the  finest  ex- 
tant. "When  our  people  in  general,  and  architects  in  particular, 
shall  have  given  equal  thought  and  zeal  to  the  perfection  of  relig- 
ious art  suited  to  our  climate  and  customs,  still  greater  success  will 
doubtless  be  attained. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Greeks  invented  the  most  beautiful 
order  of  architecture,  called  Corinthian,  at  the  period  of  Periclean 
•  decline.  The  exquisite  little  memorial  of  Lysicrates  was  their  only 
perfected  specimen,  the  ^proportions  of  which  were  never  enlarged 
in  the  clime  of  their  first  bloom.  A  corrupted  Roman  modification 
has  often  been  repeated,  but  not  till  the  age  of  Washington,  and 
nearly  on  the  veiy  spot  where  Liberty  first  proclaimed  her  complete 
emancipation,  did  an  architect  conceive  the  purpose  of  recasting 
those  perfectly  beautiful  outhnes  on  a  colossal  scale.  Since  Pericles 
and  his  age  perished,  earth  has  seen  no  fairer  fabric,  both  as  to  its 
material  form  and  artistic  soul,  than  Girard  college  presents.  Com- 
pare the  Madeleine  of  Paris,  and  St.  George's  Hall  at  Liverpool, 
two  cotemporaneous  mastei-pieces,  nearest  to  the  same  order,  and 
most  lauded  by  their  respective  nations,  if  you  would  estimate  the 
actual  progress  we  have  made  in  monumental  art.    There  is  more 


378 


WASHINGTON. 


pure  Doric,  Ionic,  and  Corinthian  architecture  executed  in  marble 
and  now  adorning  Philadelphia  alone,  than  can  be  found  in  Paris 
and  London  combined,  or  in  any  other  three  cities  of  either  France 
or  England. 

The  new  House  of  Parliament  now  building  in  Westminster  has 
already  cost  an  enormous  sum,  and  is  profusely  decorated  on  the 
interior  and  exterior  with  a  great  variety  of  graphic  and  sculptured 
art.  But  one  familiar  with  the  palatial  and  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  will  search  in  vain  for 
the  first  original  feature  in  the  whole  conglomerated  pile.  We,  too, 
are  building  a  new  Capitol,  and  how  do  the  two  edifices  compare 
as  to  intrinsic  monumental  worth  ?  All  nations  wove  native  vege- 
tation into  their  mural  and  columnar  creations  down  to  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  when  all  architectural 
invention  manifestly  ceased.  Thenceforth  shields  of  arms,  sheets 
of  armor,  and  shreds  of  fiddles  or  yet  emptier  fantasies  usurped  the 
entablature,  darkened  casements,  and  cumbered  over-burdened 
shafts.  Hence  in  the  palace  of  Lords  and  Commons  on  the  border 
of  the  Thames,  if  amid  ten  thousand  vestiges  of  feudal  fierceness 
and  heraldic  insignia,  we  look  for  structural  adornments  fashioned 
after  a  leaf,  or  flower,  or  tuft  of  foliage  peculiar  to  the  England  of 
to-day,  not  one  can  be  found.  But  when  the  original  home  of  our 
national  legislation  was  restored  near  the  Potomac,  the  chief  col- 
onnade was  surmounted  by  a  new  cap,  bearing  in  graceful  curve 
and  foliation  the  clustered  wealth  of  our  primitive  staple,  corn. 
Since  then  other  indications  of  native  resources  have  been  added  ; 
and  the  architect  who  is  now  serving  his  country  and  the  cause  of 
progressive  art  so  well,  boldly  lays  our  entire  domain  of  vegetable 
glories  under  contribution  to  enhance  the  beauty  and  characterize 
the  purpose  of  his  marble  halls.  When  completed  according  to 
the  present  design,  American  architecture,  sculpture,  and  painting, 
will  therein  coalesce  in  consummate  excellence  to  signahze  an  ad- 
vance in  native  art  commensurate  with  the  immensity  of  our  repub- 
lican domains. 

Another  favorable  symptom  among  us  is,  that  the  people  them- 
selves, and  leading  minds  in  particular,  are  becoming  more  inspired 
with  a  taste  for  noble  art.  This  is  indispensable  to  the  production 
of  great  and  worthy  national  monuments.    Had  Pericles,  and 


ART. 


379 


Augustus,  and  Leo  X.  not  been  as  familiar  with  the  principles  and 
usefulness  of  art  as  any  of  those  that  were  around  them,  and  had 
not  the  artists  of  their  day  not  been  gentlemen  in  feeling  and 
accomplishments,  the  monumental  arts  of  their  respective  ages 
would  never  have  risen  to  the  elevation  with  which  they  are 
marked.  As  soon  as  our  countrymen  are  once  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  direction  in  which  the  true  future  of  the  arts  lies,  the 
grandest  victory  will  already  have  been  more  than  half  gained. 
They  will  then  become  thoroughly  convinced  how  utterly  unwor- 
thy of  this  country  and  age  were  the  arts  both  of  the  ancient 
Pagans  and  those  of  the  middle  ages ;  and  producers  will  not  help 
feeling  the  degradation  inherent  in  their  present  servile  copying. 
Men  of  a  higher  class  of  intellect,  emancij)ated  from  hereditary  con- 
ventionalism, will  devote  a  more  earnest  search  after  excellence,  and 
will  find  it  in  the  greatest  purity  and  profusion,  not  where  it  has  so 
long  been  sought,  but  in  some  new  and  loftier  sphere,  where  the 
virgin  ore  is  still  concealed  in  its  original  matrix.  This,  however, 
is  not  to  be  rapidly  attained.  To  accompHsh  any  thing  really  great 
requires  centuries  of  years  and  myriads  of  progressive  steps.  XJn- 
artistic  milhonaires  will  cease  to  inhabit  absurd  houses,  or  worship 
in  sham  temples,  as  soon  as  the  mass  of  the  people  who  long  since 
rebelled  against  tyrannical  and  absurd  laws,  shall  come  to  be  as 
appreciative  of  architectural  improvement  as  they  are  sagacious  and 
patriotic  to  promote  popular  rights.  No  longer  content  to  fill  new 
States  with  diied  specimens  of  old  civilizations,  a  generation  is  about 
to  appear  who  will  cease  erecting  edifices  which  are  mere  monu- 
ments of  servile  ignorance,  and  will  assure  posterity  that  they  dared 
to  think  for  themselves,  and  had  an  art  of  their  own.  TsTot  one 
source  of  pure  and  lofty  inspiration  ever  existed  which  does  not 
now  exist ;  on  the  contraiy,  many  are  now  extant  which  former 
ages  had  no  suspicion  of,  and  it  is  painful  to  see  them  unused  for 
the  noble  purposes  they  were  given  to  promote,  substituted  as 
they  are  by  mockeries  and  absurdities  which  degrade  the  oflSce  of 
art,  and  lead  the  pubhc  to  suppose  that  it  is  an  empty  bauble,  fit 
only  to  pander  to  the  grossest  sensuality. 

True  art  is  not  a  thing  merely  to  be  copied  and  bartered  at  such 
and  such  a  price,  but  to  be  studied  with  affectionate  disinterested- 
ness, with  reference  to  the  future  creation  of  new  styles  and  higher 


380 


WASHINGTON. 


classes  of  beauty,  and  anterior  to  the  sixteenth  century  artists 
wrought  constantly  upon  this  principle.  Then  architecture  and  its 
correlative  arts  were  cultivated  with  a  single  motive  and  for  only 
one  purpose,  that  of  producing  the  best  possible  building  with  the 
best  possible  materials  that  could  be  commanded,  and  without  ever 
looking  back  on  preceding  works,  except  to  learn  how  to  avoid 
their  defects  and  excel  their  beauties.  It  was  an  earnest  progress- 
ive struggle  toward  perfection,  which,  after  the  stormy  period 
requisite  to  the  founding  of  our  free  institutions,  we  must  resume 
and  complete  in  the  more  tranquil  realm  of  ennobling  art.  First 
learning  all  that  has  been  done,  we  are  to  start  from  that  highest 
point  to  surpass  it ;  this  has  been  the  process  executed  by  all  pro- 
gressive races,  and  hence  their  success.  Well  might  Greece  exult 
in  the  result  of  her  great  battle  for  freedom;  well  might  each 
separate  state  pride  itself  on  the  share  it  had  borne  in  the  common 
struggle,  and  well  might  she  tax  monumental  art  to  give  the 
loftiest  expression  to  her  triumphant  joy.  Kindled  with  a  deep  and 
univei*sal  enthusiasm,  art  was  then  the  reflex  of  victory,  as  it  is  now  its 
noblest  monument,  and  such  may  it  increasingly  become  in  America ! 

Sculpture,  the  severest  of  artistic  creations,  has  already  achieved 
a  grand  success  in  our  western  world.  Early  success  and  present 
proficiency  guaranty  future  excellence  of  the  highest  order  in  this 
department  of  the  liberal  arts.  Horatio  Greenough  of  Boston  was 
the  first  of  our  countrymen  who  won  a  wide  reputation  in  sculpture, 
and  has  left  works  which  justify  the  exalted  encomiums  he  so  zeal- 
ously earned.  Hiram  Powers  soon  followed  in  this  serene  sphere 
of  genius,  and  having  journeyed  unknown  from  the  bosom  of  the 
Green  Mountains  to  the  "  Queen  City  of  the  West,"  he  began  an 
artistic  career  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  which  has  since  for  many 
years  brightened  the  fairest  glories  that  gleam  in  the  mirror  of  the 
Arno.  Clevenger,  that  noble  and  magnificent  son  of  the  West,  was 
quickened  into  a  generous  emulation  by  Powers,  as  the  latter  had 
been  fostered  by  the  kindness  of  Greenough,  and  soon  the  three 
were  harmoniously  working  together  in  Florence.  Two  prime 
luminaries  have  been  withdrawn  from  that  brilliant  constellation  to 
shine  in  a  brighter  firmament,  but  others  of  not  less  promise  have 
been  added  to  the  sublunary  galaxy  in  rapid  succession,  so  that  our 
sculpturesque  school  is  now  second  to  none  extant. 


ART. 


381 


The  State  which  gave  birth  to  our  oldest  living  sculptor  abounds 
more  copiously  in  fine  marble  than  Italy  itself ;  and  the  statuary,  as 
well  as  the  architect,  will  yet  derive  thence  the  material  of  his 
grandest  works.    The  far  West  is  equally  rich  in  the  components 
of  bronze,  and  the  more  precious  metals.    At  the  moment  of  the 
present  writing,  a  native  artist  is  erecting  in  the  centre  of  this  city 
an  equestrian  statue  of  Washington  of  colossal  size,  which  was  cast 
in  Massachusetts  with  a  completeness  and  perfection,  it  is  said,  un- 
attainable at  any  foundiy  in  Europe.    It  was  fitting  that  the  first 
great  leader  in  this  department  of  national  renown  should  execute 
his  masterpieces  for  the  republic  and  its  metropolis,  and  that  his 
worthy  successors  should  now  be  adorning  the  capitals  of  the  re- 
motest parent  colonies  with  masterly  memorials  in  both  marble 
and  bronze.    Patriotic  hearts  can  not  but  be  thrilled  in  observing 
how  in  every  section  of  our  country  spacious  studios  are  devoted  to 
high  art,  whence  busts,  portrait-statues,  and  original  groups  are 
elicited  by  constantly-increased  patronage,  to  adorn  private  man- 
sions and  ennoble  the  popular  taste.    Clevenger,  when  an  humble 
apprentice  to  a  stone-mason  in  Cincinnati,  made  his  first  attempt  at 
sculpture  by  the  light  of  a  midnight  moon  over  the  bas-relief  of  a 
tombstone ;  and  the  first  full-length  monumental  figure  cut  for 
"  Mount  Auburn"  was  executed  by  an  adventurer  in  Boston,  whom 
we  first  knew  as  a  poor  country  blacksmith,  but  who  is  now  an 
eminent  and  wealthy  sculptor.    The  old  world  has  no  cemeteries 
which  in  natural  beauty  and  adaptedness  to  artificial  adornment  can 
compare  with  our  own,  and  these  rural  cities  of  the  dead  will  soon 
become  grand  repositories  of  living  art.    Already  is  this  fore- 
shadowed at  Greenwood,  around  the  granite  pedestal  whereon  the 
yet  more  enduring  majesty  of  De  Witt  Clinton  looks  abroad  on  the 
fleeting  grandeurs  of  earth,  ocean,  and  sky.    Niches  and  arcades 
are  opened  in  all  public  buildings  of  recent  erection,  and  good 
sculpture  is  rapidly  becoming  an  exquisite  delight  to  the  American 
mind. 

So  long  as  the  aim  of  the  sculptor  is  only  to  advance  step  by  step 
toward  the  ideal  of  perfect  beauty,  no  age  can  ever  excel  that  of 
Pericles.  The  limited  powers  of  mortals  are  incapable  of  advan- 
cing further  in  that  direction  than  paganism  attained  in  giving  to 
corporeal  charms  a  material  expression.  But  the  age  of  Washington 


382 


WASHINGTON. 


is  called  to  embody  intellectual  beauty,  invested  with  such  feelings 
as  the  highest  class  of  Christian  development  will  admit  of,  and 
this  will  enable  the  modern  artist  to  reach  a  far  higher  point  of 
excellence  than  has  yet  been  attained.  The  same  subsidiary  vehicle 
must  be  employed  to  convey  a  more  exalted  class  of  expression,  but 
a  nobler  aim  is  opened  to  the  consecrated  aspirant,  and  superlative 
excellence  in  sculpture  must  be  the  result.  Of  their  kind,  the 
Apollo  Belvidere  and  the  Venus  de'  Medici  will  ever  stand  without 
rivals ;  but  they  do  not  belong  to  the  highest  class  of  art,  for  the 
Venus  has  no  more  mind  than  the  Greeks  usually  ascribed  to  women ; 
and  the  Apollo,  though  the  noblest  animal  ever  created,  is  no  more 
in  the  realm  of  intellect  than  "  a  young  Mohawk."  Sculpture  is 
not  always  to  remain  only  an  unmeaning  transcript  of  an  extinct 
system  of  art,  but  must  advance  beyond  the  expression  of  mere 
corporeal  beauty.  What  is  now  most  wanted  for  this,  as  for  all 
kindred  arts,  is  the  power  of  expressing  the  loftiest  order  of  intellect, 
blended  with  the  most  refined  sensibility  which  either  the  heail  of 
sculptured  genius  can  conceive  or  its  hand  execute.  We  believe 
that  capacities  adequate  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  consummate 
end  will  yet  be  developed  in  America,  and  are  convinced  that  their 
happy  exercise  will  lead  to  triumphs  of  art  higher  than  ever  the 
Grecians,  in  their  hour  of  most  magnificent  exaltation,  dreamed  of. 
The  fine  arts  of  the  ancients  w^ere  only  necessary  results  of  their 
general  system,  and  of  the  objects  they  sought  through  every  channel 
and  in  every  thought ;  as  our  ships  and  engines  are  not  things 
apart  from  our  commerce  or  manufactures,  but  only  great  facts 
resulting  from  them  as  exponents  the  most  exact.  But  in  due 
time  Americans  will  elaborate  beauty  out  of  the  practical  arts  as 
earnestly  as  they  now  look  for  profit  in  them,  and  then  will  the 
world  witness  the  coalescence  of  the  human  and  divine  in  sculptured 
worth  the  most  complete. 

Painting  was  the  first  fine  art  cultivated  in  America,  and  has 
never  ceased  to  advance.  When  George  Berkeley  came  to  this 
country  with  the  benevolent  purpose  of  opening  a  university  for  the 
education  of  the  aborigines,  he  included  the  arts  of  design  in  his 
system  of  education.  No  founder  of  schools  in  the  old  world  ever 
thought  of  that.  Berkeley  had  traveled  in  Italy  with  a  Scotch 
artist,  John  Smybert,  and  chose  him  to  be  professor  of  ai'chitecture, 


ART. 


383 


drawing,  and  painting  in  his  projected  institution.  There  is  at  Yale 
College  a  large  picture  which  represents  Berkeley  and  some  of  his 
family,  together  with  the  artist  himself,  on  their  first  landing  in 
America,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  picture  of  more  than  a 
single  figure  ever  painted  on  our  shores. 

Berkeley's  general  scheme  was  abandoned  from  necessity,  but 
Smybert  settled  in  Boston,  where  he  marned  and  died.  The  latter 
event  occurred  in  1751,  when  his  pupil,  Copley,  was  but  thirteen 
years  old.  Ti'umbull  retired  from  the  army,  and  resumed  painting 
in  Boston,  in  1777,  surrounded  by  Copley's  works,  and  in  the  room 
w^hich  had  been  built  for  Smybert.  Thus  was  the  path  of  progress 
opened  and  increasingly  glorified,  the  greatest  of  New  England 
colorists,  Allston,  having  first  caught  the  reflection  of  Vandyke  in 
Smybert.  All  the  best  portraits  which  remain  of  eminent  divine? 
and  magistrates  of  the  eastern  States  and  New  York,  who  live<f 
between  1725  and  1751,  are  from  the  pencil  of  this  founder  of  pic- 
torial art  in  America. 

In  his  "  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progi'ess  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in 
the  United  States,"  William  Dunlap  commemorates  more  than  fom* 
hundred  and  thirty  painters  who  have  contributed  to  the  establish- 
ment of  an  American  school  of  art.  It  is  really  wonderful  that  so 
much  artistic  merit  should  have  been  matured  in  the  midst  of 
diflBculties  incident  to  the  civilization  of  a  barbarous  continent. 
But  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  recommending  a  work  of  American  genius 
to  Maria  Edgeworth,  sagaciously  accounted  for  the  phenomenon  by 
saying,  "  That  people  once  possessed  of  a  three-legged  stool,  soon 
contrive  to  make  an  easy-chair."  In  allusion  to  this  anecdote,  our 
first  great  sculptor,  Greenough,  remarks,  "  Humble  as  the  phrase  is, 
we  here  perceive  an  expectation  on  his  part,  that  the  energies  now 
exercised  in  laying  the  foundations  of  a  mighty  empire,  would,  in 
due  time,  rear  the  stately  columns  of  civilization,  and  crown  the 
edifice  with  the  entablature  of  letters  and  of  arts.  Remembering 
that  one  leg  of  the  American  stool  was  planted  in  Maine,  a  second 
in  Florida,  and  the  third  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  he 
could  scarce  expect  that  the  chair  would  become  an  easy  one  in 
half  a  century.  It  is  true,  that  before  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, Copley  had  in  Boston  formed  a  style  of  portrait  w^hich  filled 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  with  astonishment ;  and  that  West,  breaking 


384 


WASHINGTON. 


through  the  bar  of  Quaker  prohibition,  and  conquering  the  prejudice 
against  a  provincial  aspirant,  had  taken  a  high  rank  in  the  highest 
walk  of  art  in  London.  Stuart,  Trumbull,  AUston,  Morse,  Leslie, 
and  Newton,  followed  in  quick  succession,  while  Vanderlyn  won 
golden  opinions  at  Rome,  and  bore  away  high  honors  at  Paris.,  So 
far  were  the  citizens  of  the  rej)ublic  from  showing  a  want  of  capacity 

•  for  art,  that  we  may  safely  affirm  the  bent  of  their  genius  was 
rather  peculiarly  in  that  direction,  since  the  first  burins  of  Europe" 
were  employed  in  the  service  of  the  American  pencil  before  Irving 
had  written,  and  while  Cooper  was  yet  a  child.  That  England, 
with  these  facts  before  her,  should  have  accused  us  of  obtuseness  in 
regard  to  art,  and  that  we  should  have  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge, 
furnishes  the  strongest  proof  of  her  disposition  to  underrate  our 
intellectual  powers,  and  of  our  own  ultra  docility  and  want  of  self- 

'  reliance." 

No  AValhalla  can  be  made  to  start  suddenly  from  a  republican 
soil ;  but  we  firmly  believe  that  our  free  institutions  are  more  favor- 
able to  a  natural,  healthful  growth  of  art,  than  any  hot-bed  culture 
under  the  auspices  of  aristocrats  or  kings.  Monuments,  statues, 
and  pictures  which  represent  what  the  people  love  and  wish  for  are 
rapidly  multiplied,  and  this  popular  appreciation  of  high  art  needs 
only  to  be  guided  by  salutary  examples  to  become  mightj  and 
prolific  beyond  any  preceding  age. 

No  country  ever  existed  where  the  development  and  growth  of 
an  artist  was  more  free,  healthful,  and  happy,  than  it  is  in  these 
United  States.  Lidependence  of  character  is  essential  to  all  emi- 
nent success,  and  that  is  here  necessitated  by  every  law  of  life. 
Like  Alexander,  when  he  embarked  for  Asia ;  Csesar,  when  he 
leaped  the  Rubicon :  Phidias,  when  he  adorned  the  Parthenon ; 
Michael  Angelo,  when  he  painted  the  Capella  Sistina ;  Raphael, 
when  he  entered  the  Vatican ;  Napoleon,  when  he  invaded  Italy ; 
and  Columbus,  when  he  sailed  for  America ;  the  aspirant  after  ex- 
alted art-excellence  in  our  land,  must  depend  mainly  on  his  own 
genius,  and  find  in  that  his  best  patron  and  reward. 

The  wdiole  world  of  ancient  art  is  moving  toward  this  great 
western  theatre  of  its  finest  and  sublimest  development.  The  con- 
tinental cities  contain  a  few  magnificent  collections,  but  the  artistic 
wealth  stored  in  the  many  private  mansions  of  the  British  islands 


ART. 


385 


transcends  all  eastern  lands.  Waagen's  four  large  volumes  are  not 
sufficient  to  enumerate  the  "Art  Treasures  in  Great  Britain." 
These  are  more  secluded  than  the  public  galleries,  of  Rome,  Naples, 
Florence,  and  Paris,  but  they  are  not  inferior  in  respect  to  particu- 
lar specimens,  and  are  vastly  more  diversified  in  general  interest. 
On  English  soil  we  may  study  the  graphic,  as  well  as  sculptural 
and  monumental  history  of  all  authentic  eras,  with  the  assurance 
that  as  the  mental  worth  we  contemplate  is  removed,  it  will  prob- 
ably advance  still  further  west.  Not  a  great  sale  of  literary  or  ar- 
tistic collections  occurs  in  Europe,  when  a  strong  competition  is  not 
ventured  upon  by  Americans.  We  believe  that  this  country  will 
yet  possess  the  chief  treasures  of  England,  as  that  mighty  nation 
has  heretofore  gathered  to  herself  the  choicest  productions  of  ante- 
rior times.  Giotto's  portrait  of  Dante  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Palazzo 
del  Podesta,  at  Florence,  was  rescued  from  under  a  thick  coat  of 
whitewash  by  our  countryman,  R.  H.  "Wilde  ;  and  the  young  uni- 
versity at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  bought  the  superb  library  of  Neander 
entire.  Restore  and  reform  is  the  standing  order  of  the  day.  Pal- 
aces are  emptied  of  useless  princes  and  unproductive  aristocrats, 
in  order  that  remains  of  antiquity  and  paragons  of  beauty  may  find 
refuge  therein,  under  the  protection  of  the  populace  who  crowd 
with  reverent  enthusiasm  to  their  contemplation.  Thus  are  the 
common  people  becoming  the  true  conservators  of  ancient  worth, 
and  the  most  liberal  promoters  of  modern  improvement.  At  this 
moment  the  manufacturers  in  western  England  buy  more  fine  pic- 
tures, and  lend  a  wiser  as  well  as  richer  support  to  art  than  all  the 
personal  patronage  in  the  realm  beside,  the  sovereign  included. 

Every  new  enactment  of  the  hereditary  few  is  a  fresh  concession 
to  the  popular  demand  for  free  access  to  whatever  is  beautiful  or 
sublime.  Since  Charles  I.,  each  great  institution,  the  British  Mu- 
seum for  example,  has  been  indebted  to  a  private  individual  for  its 
origin.  The  common  heart  therein  reads  an  impressive  comment- 
ary on  all  progress,  and  is  ennobled  in  its  joy.  Egypt,  Assyria, 
Greece,  ancient  Rome,  and  modern  Italy,  disinterred  and  intelli- 
gently arranged,  pass  under  the  simultaneous  view  of  the  masses, 
and  every  expression  of  tint,  form,  and  spirit  becomes  a  fresh  ele- 
ment of  knowledge,  a  lever  by  which  is  set  in  motion  a  vast  fabric 
of  creative  wonder.    Thus  the  sciences  and  arts  unite  in  a  delight- 

11 


386 


WASHINGTON. 


ful  combination  for  the  good  of  humanity,  and  nothing  gives  so 
much  lustre  to  a  nation  as  their  perfection. 

The  cuhivation  of  the  fine  arts  greatly  contributes  to  the  respect, 
character,  and  dignity  of  every  government  by  which  they  have 
been  encouraged,  and  are  intimately  connected  with  every  thing 
valuable  in  national  influence.  In  contemplating  the  permanent 
glory  to  which  so  small  a  republic  as  Athens  rose,  by  the  genius 
and  energy  of  her  citizens,  exerted  in  this  direction,  it  is  impossible 
to  overlook  how  transient  the  memory  and  fame  of  extended  em- 
pires and  mighty  conquerors  are,  compared  with  those  who  have 
rendered  inconsiderable  states  eminent,  and  who  have  immortalized 
their  own  names  by  these  j)ursuits.  Free  governments  alone  afford 
a  soil  suitable  to  the  production  of  native  talent,  to  the  full  matur- 
ing of  the  human  mind,  and  to  the  growth  of  every  species  of  ex- 
cellence. Therefore  no  country  can  be  better  adapted  than  our 
own  to  afford  a  final  abode  for  the  best  specimens  of  the  old  world 
as  models  to  the  new,  that  by  these  we  may  first  learn  to  emulate, 
and  ultimately  be  enabled  to  excel  them. 

We  ai'e  yet  a  young  people,  engrossed  with  all  the  distracting 
cares  and  toils  incident  to  the  primary  subjugation  of  a  virgin  con- 
tinent. And  yet,  perhaps  nowhere  else  are  the  masses  more  eager 
to  enjoy  beautiful  art.  Private  collections  are  rapidly  multiplying, 
numerous  exhibitions  are  profusely  visited,  and  public  monuments 
are  munificently  sustained.  At  a  late  meeting  of  the  Royal  Acade- 
my in  London,  at  which  the  ministers  were  present,  the  premier, 
Lord  Aberdeen,  said  that  "  as  a  fact  full  of  hope  he  remarked  that  for 
several  years  the  public,  in  the  appreciation  of  art,  had  outstripped 
the  government  and  the  parliament  itself."  But  in  the  United 
States  the  masses,  who  in  this  age  are  everywhere  rising  in  intelli- 
gent supremacy,  most  directly  control  the  resources  of  their  respect- 
ive States;  and  we  may  soon  expect  to  see  diversified  types  of 
American  art  produced  which  will  be  commensurate  with  the 
matchless  charms  of  our  climate,  the  varied  richness  of  our 
raw  materials,  and  the  grandeur  of  our  national  domain. 

The  best  writers  on  art  that  ever  lived  are  now  enriching  our 
language  with  the  most  splendid  contributions  to  a  new  and  nobler 
order  of  jesthetical  criticism.  Not  only  are  such  works  appreci- 
ated with  great  avidity  by  the  common  mind  of  our  land,  but  the 


ART. 


387 


liumerous  art-students  from  America,  whose  studios  are  leadinrr 
attractions  in  every  foreign  metropolis,  receive  the  newest  light 
with  least  prejudice,  and  profit  by  progressive  principles  -with  most 
triumphant  success. 

The  more  occidental  the  stage  of  human  development,  and  the 
later  the  period  of  its  existence,  the  more  scope  and  capital  there 
will  be  for  the  exercise  of  genius.  The  last  national  picture  ex- 
ecuted for  the  Rotunda  at  Washington  was  by  a  native  artist  born 
beyond  the  Ohio ;  and  the  moving  panorama,  the  most  original  and 
instructive,  if  not  the  most  refined  species  of  art  belonging  to  this 
age  in  all  the  world,  was  invented  by  an  American,  amid  the  wild 
splendors  of  the  upper  Mississippi.  In  regions  yet  beyond,  Jubal 
■with  the  chorded  shell,  and  Tubal-Cain,  smelting  metals  and  refin- 
ing pigments  for  the  use  of  man,  will  direct  those  who  congregate 
in  cities,  and  turn  the  discoveries  of  reason,  with  the  embeUishments 
of  art  to  the  widest  and  most  ennobling  public  good.  We  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  as  our  nationality  shall  require  an  artis- 
tic expression,  local  genius  will  never  be  wanting  to  give  it  an  ade- 
quate expression ;  and  that  the  sublime  productions  of  the  West 
will  ultimately  be  appealed  to  as  the  finest  test  of  the  supreme  rank 
we  shall  come  to  hold  among  the  nations  of  earth. 


CHAPTER  III. 


SCIENCE. 

The  swallow  travels,  and  the  bee  builds  now,  as  tbese  creatures 
of  instinct  traveled  and  built  in  the  days  of  Moses  and  Job ;  but 
the  capabilities  and  acquisitions  of  rational  man  are  all  progressive, 
not  only,  as  an  individual  from  infancy  to  age,  but  as  a  species  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time.  This  is  shown,  by  every  art 
which  man  has  invented,  and  in  every  science  he  has  employed. 
Let  us  proceed  to  open  up  more  specifically  this  illustrative  depart- 
ment of  our  general  theme,  and  consider  the  threefold  advantages, 
political,  mechanical,  and  educational  which  the  age  of  Washing- 
ton permits  us  to  enjoy. 

The  science  of  government  as  practiced  in  this  country,  is  undoubt- 
edly constructed  on  the  loftiest  principles  of  common  sense,  and 
constitutes  the  best  model  and  most  salutary  protection  to  each 
subordinate  department  of  productive  thought.  Here,  the  division 
of  labor  has  been  carried  to  the  greatest  extent,  not  only  in  the 
dehberative  but  in  the  executive  departments ;  and  progress  is 
steadily  pursued,  without  attempting  to  anticipate  results  either  by 
springing  forward  after  crude  theories,  or  backward  in  attempts  to 
copy  extinct  forms.  Our  view  of  liberty  differs  essentially  from 
that  held  by  the  ancients.  By  the  latter  citizenship  was  regarded 
as  the  highest  phase  of  humanity,  and  man,  as  a  political  being, 
could  rise  no  higher  than  to  membership  in  a  state ;  therefore  it 
was  that  Aristotle  affirmed  the  state  to  be  before  the  individ- 
ual. But  with  us  the  state,  and  consequently  the  citizenship  only 
affords  the  means  of  obtaining  still  higher  objects,  the  fullest  pos- 
sible development  of  human  faculties  both  in  this  world  and  in 
that  which  is  to  come. 

The  science  of  freedom,  which  is  destined  to  spread  its  irresistible 
empire  over  this  continent,  started  its  primary  germ  in  the  bosom 


SCIENCE. 


389 


of  our  antipodes.  Long  before  the  words  people,  law,  equality,  in- 
dependence, and  equitable  legislation  had  found  a  place  in  refined 
languages,  republicanism  glowed  in  the  mind  of  Moses,  and  was 
partially  embodied  in  the  Hebrew  commonwealth.  The  safeguard 
of  all  races  as  they  were  propagated,  and  the  ennobler  of  all 
thoughts  as  they  were  colonized,  this  blessing  of  blessings  has  ever 
migrated  with  advancing  humanity  from  age  to  age,  till  at  length 
a  fitting  field  has  been  attained  for  its  fullest  and  most  fruitful  devel- 
opment. 

Heeren  well  observes  that  Greece  may  be  considered  as  "  a  sam- 
ple paper  of  free  commonwealths."  But  even  that  renowned  land 
never  saw  her  people  enjoy  their  just  rights;  nor  was  such  an 
exalted  privilege  realized  by  the  nations  of  continental  Europe, 
until  the  great  principle  of  popular  consent  was  recognized  as  the 
foundation  of  righteous  authority.  The  crusades  broke  down  feu- 
dalism, and  elective  monarchies  grew  increasingly  representative 
of  the  popular  will,  up  to  the  transition  period,  when  James  II.  was 
hurled  from  his  tyrannical  throne,  and  William  of  Orange  became  the 
people's  king.  All  the  best  political  science  of  the  old  world  went 
with  the  latter,  from  the  comparatively  free  Netherlands,  to  ame- 
liorate England,  and  foster  her  colonies  in  America.  The  essence 
of  the  great  revolution  of  1688  was  eminently  pacific  and  progress- 
ive, occasioning  no  sacking  of  towns  nor  shedding  of  blood.  Ac- 
cording to  Macaulay,  it  announced  that  the  strife  between  the  pop- 
ular element  and  the  despotic  element  in  the  government,  which 
had  lasted  so  long,  and  been  so  prolific  in  seditions,  rebellions, 
plots,  battles,  sieges,  impeachments,  proscriptions,  and  judicial  mur- 
ders, was  at  an  end ;  and  that  the  former,  having  at  length  fairly 
triumphed  over  the  latter,  was  thenceforth  to  be  permitted  freely  to 
develop  itself,  and  become  predominant  in  the  English  polity. 

In  tracing  kindred  paths  of  human  progress,  we  have  constantly 
had  occasion  to  note  how  the  aff'airs  of  all  consecutive  ao^es,  thouo-h 
produced  immediately  by  the  voluntary  agency  of  diversified 
actors,  have,  nevertheless,  been  controlled  by  the  divine  counsel, 
and  contributed  to  execute  the  perfected  unity  of  the  divine  plan. 
How  great  and  manifold  were  the  purposes  which  Providence  com- 
prehended in  the  discovery  of  America,  and  the  peculiar  colonies 
planted  on  its  shores,  we  need  not  attempt  to  portray.    But  it  is 


390  WASHINGTON. 

impossible  to  doubt  that  prominent  among*  these  were  improve- 
ments in  the  science  of  government,  the  evolution  of  new  theories 
of  civil  polity,  and  a  grander  application  of  such  principles  as  had 
already  been  made  known. 

As  a  new  world  was  about  to  be  civilized,  and  required  the 
highest  measure  of  free  intelligence.  Bacon,  Harrington,  Sidney, 
Milton,  Locke,  Grotius,  PufFendorf,  and  Montesquieu,  arose  to  pour 
successive  shafts  of  light  upon  the  new  but  sombre  skies.  Parental 
injustice  and  colonial  strife  for  a  while  darkened  earth  and  heaven ; 
but  in  due  time  the  sun  of  American  freedom  ascended  with  auspi- 
cious splendor,  when  the  mists  of  prejudice  were  dispersed,  and  the 
fresh  revelations  of  a  new  political  science  appeared  hke  some  glo- 
rious landscape  amid  clear  shining  after  rain.  All  the  brightest 
beamings  of  antecedent  light  fell  concentrated  in  that  ray  which 
illumined  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower,  and  kindled  the  fairest  bea- 
con of  freedom  on  the  eastern  extremity  of  our  continent.  It  was 
an  effulgence  given  to  be  thenceforth  diffused  westward  evermore, 
often  buffeted,  indeed,  by  adverse  elements,  but  never  impeded  in 
its  predominating  progress,  and  much  less  diminished  or  obscured. 

Before  the  pilgrim  fathers  disembarked,  on  the  11th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1620,  off  Cape  Cod,  they  drew  up  and  subscribed  a  formal 
social  compact,  from  which  is  the  following  extract :  "  We,  whose 
names  are  under-written  *  *  *  do,  by  these  presents, 
solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  one  another, 
covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body  politic, 
*  *  *  *  and  by  virtue  hereof,  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame 
such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  offices, 
from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient 
for  the  general  good  of  the  colony ;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due 
submission  and  obedience.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereunder 
subscribed  our  names."  To  this  remarkable  document  were  ap- 
pended the  names  of  all  the  male  adults  on  board  the  ship ;  the 
whole  number  of  both  sexes  being  a  hundred  and  one,  who  took 
possession  of  a  desert  island,  where  day  now  first  dawns  on  the 
sublimest  republic  of  earth. 

According  to  an  eastern  fable,  the  world  is  a  harp.  Its  strings 
are  earth,  air,  fire,  flood,  life,  death,  and  wind.  At  certain  intervals, 
an  angel,  flying  through  the  heavens,  strikes  the  harp.    Its  vibra- 


SCIENCE. 


391 


tions  are  those  mighty  issues  of  good  and  evil,  the  great  epochs 
which  mark  the  destiny  of  our  race.  In  allusion  to  this,  E.  C. 
Wines  remarks :  "  The  mystic  harp  was  touched  when  the  pilgrims 
set  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock.  Its  quivering  strings  discoursed  their 
most  eloquent  music.  The  burden  of  the  notes  was,  human  free- 
dom ;  human  brotherhood  ;  human  rights ;  the  sovereignty  of  the 
people ;  the  supremacy  of  law  over  will ;  the  divine  right  of  man 
to  govern  himself.  The  strain  is  still  prolonged  in  vibrations  of 
ev^r-wideninof  circuit.  That  was  an  era  of  eras.  Its  influence, 
vitalized  by  the  American  Union,  is  fast  becoming  paramount 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  Europe  feels  it  at  this  very  mo- 
ment to  her  utmost  extremities,  in  every  sense,  in  every  fibre,  in 
every  pulsation  of  her  convulsed  and  struggling  energies, 

"  The  great  birth  of  that  era  is  practical  liberty ;  liberty  based 
on  the  principles  of  the  Gospel ;  liberty  fashioned  into  symmetry 
and  beauty  and  strength  by  the  molding  power  of  Christianity; 
iiberty  which  *  places  sovereignty  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
then  sends  them  to  the  Bible,  that  they  may  learn  how  to  wear  the 
crown,'  And  what  a  birth !  Already  is  the  infant  grown  into  a 
giant.  Liberty,  as  it  exists  among  us,  that  is,  secured  by  constitu- 
tional guaranties,  impregnated  with  Gospel  principles,  and  freed 
from  alliance  with  royalty,  has  r^aised  tliis  country  from  colonial 
bondage  and  insignificance  to  the  rank  of  a  leading  power  among 
the  governments  of  earth. 

^'  The  union  of  these  States  under  one  government,  effected  by 
our  national  Constitution,  has  given  to  America  a  career  imparal- 
ieled,  in  all  the  annals  of  time,  for  rapidity  and  brilliancy.  Her 
three  millions  of  people  have  swelled,  in  little  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, to  twenty-five  milhons.  Her  one  million  square  miles  have 
expanded  into  nearly  four  millions.  Her  thirteen  States  have 
grown  into  thirty-one.  Her  navigation  and  commerce  rival  those 
of  the  oldest  and  most  commercial  nations.  Her  keels  vex  all 
waters.  Her  maritime  means  and  maritime  power  are  seen  on  all 
seas  and  oceans,  lakes  and  rivers.  Her  inventive  genius  has  given 
to  the  world  the  two  greatest  achievements  of  human  ingenuity,  in 
the  steamboat  and  the  electric  telegraph.  Two  thousand  steamers 
ply  her  waters ;  twenty  thousand  miles  of  magnetic  wires  form  a 
net-work  over  her  soil.    The  growth  of  her  cities  is  more  like 


392  WASHINGTON. 

magic  than  reality.  New  York  has  doubled  its  population  in  ten 
years.  The  man  is  yet  living  who  felled  the  first  tree,  and  reared 
the  first  log-cabin,  on  the  site  of  Cincinnati.  Now  that  city  con- 
tains one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls.  It  is  larger  than  the 
ancient  and  venerable  city  of  Bristol,  in  England." 

Tims  the  founders  of  our  national  compact  have  proved  them- 
selves the  unsurpassed  adepts  in  political  science.  They  unques- 
tionably belonged  to  that  select  number,  of  whom  Bolingbroke  said 
that  it  has  pleased  the  author  of  nature  to  mingle  them,  from  time 
to  time,  at  distant  intervals,  among  the  societies  of  men,  to  main- 
tain the  moral  system  of  the  universe  at  an  elevated  point.  Nor 
shall  we  find  less  variety  of  profound  invention,  or  less  popular  ad- 
vantages derived  from  practical  applications  in  the  realm  of  Amer- 
ican mechanical  science,  than  in  the  primary  one  of  civic  excellence 
just  considered. 

The  labors  of  cotemporaries  generally  are  in  harmony  with  the 
epoch ;  and  in  America  especially  do  they  all  tend  to  promote  that 
ultimate  destiny  which  promises  to  be  much  better  as  well  as  greater 
than  the  past  sufferings,  commotions,  and  hopes  of  mankind.  The 
westering  career  of  inventive  genius  reminds  one  of  Milton's  hero 
marching  through  the  dark  abyss  to  discover  fairer  realms  beyond. 
Though  assailed  by  feelings  of  discouragement,  and  fantastic  appa- 
ritions rise  before  him,  still  he  persistingly  rises  from  the  dark 
depths,  to  set  his  foot  on  the  gigantic  bridge  that  leads  from  gloom 
to  brightness,  and  sees  at  length  the  pendant  new  world  hanging 
in  a  golden  chain,  fast  by  the  empyreal  heaven,  "  with  opal  towers 
and  battlements  adorned  of  living  sapphire." 

Modern  science  has  produced  a  splendid  mass  of  evidence  as  to 
the  growing  povy^er  and  capacity  of  the  human  mind  ;  of  its  inde- 
pendence, freedom,  and  ability  to  direct  its  own  movements ;  of  re- 
sisting the  influences  of  external  agents,  of  inquiring  after  original 
truths,  and  acting  according  to  its  own  ideas  of  propriety^ justice, 
or  duty.  As  by  the  use  of  armed  vision,  and  other  mechanical 
aids,  the  modern  scholar  can  extend  his  intellectual  riew  to  things, 
laws,  and  results  beyond  the  most  distant  conceptions  of  unculti- 
vated mind,  so  will  like  means  bring  into  near  neighborhood  na- 
tions and  continents  heretofore  the  most  remote. 

The  mechanical  inventor  stands  prominent  among  the  chief  he- 


SCIENCE. 


393 


roes  and  benefactors  of  every  productive  people,  and  especially  is 
this  true  of  the  mightiest  in  our  day,  the  EngHsh  race.  Their 
bloodless  conflict  with,  and  conquest  over,  the  forces  of  nature, 
transcend  in  importance  all  the  glitter  of  ancestral  fame,  and  the 
proud  spoils  of  foreign  wars.  Nothing  in  ancient  annals  is  com- 
parable to  the  prodigious  feats  of  human  industry  and  skill  which 
have  been  witnessed  since  the  age  of  Washington  began.  Not  to 
go  east  of  our  own  immediate  ancestors,  it  is  interesting  to  see 
how  the  old  haunts  of  power  are  now  but  the  abandoned  monu- 
ments of  progress,  the  means  of  which  are  mostly  mechanics,  all 
the  chief  seats  of  whose  influence  have  migrated  to  the  "West.  Can- 
terbury, Lincoln,  Salisbury,  and  Winchester,  have  remained  almost 
stationary  ever  since  the  United  States  were  organized;  while 
Leeds,  Paisley,  and  Glasgow,  Birmingham,  Manchester,  and  Liver- 
pool have  become  the  comprehensive  centres  of  the  most  productive 
and  beneficent  life.  The  growth  of  the  latter  town  has  corresponded 
with  our  own  great  commercial  metropohs  ;  which,  like  it,  is  truly 
a  city  of  the  young  and  auspicious  age.  Sitting  there  upon  a  rock, 
overlookinof  the  Atlantic,  and  enriched  wdth  the  merchandise  of 
many  nations,  the  modern  Tyre  of  the  old  woirld,  whose  rugged 
Lancastrian  dignity  comports  well  with  the  majesty  of  universal 
commerce,  rehes  for  her  principal  support  on  her  rival  New 
York. 

Previous  to  the  eighteenth  century,  great  ingenuity  and  fertility 
of  invention  was  manifested  in  theoretical  representations  of  me- 
chanical principles  and  complicated  machines.  But  in  all  that 
relates  to  efficient  construction  and  adaptation  to  practical  use,  a 
total  absence  of  scientific  insight  was  manifested.  The  puny  en- 
gines might  act  very  well  in  the  form  of  models,  if  not  set  to  work 
out  something  in  good  earnest,  but  otherwise  they  were  sure  to 
knock  themselves  to  pieces  in  a  very  short  time.  On  the  contrary, 
this  century  is  distinguished  in  nothing  more  than  by  the  potent 
simplicity  and  prolific  benefits  to  which  all  its  great  mechanical  in- 
ventions are  reduced.  The  hundred  eyes  of  Argus,  and  the  hun- 
dred hands  of  Briareus  are  at  once  laid  under  contribution  to  the 
mdest  good  in  the  simultaneous  action  of  all  their  most  concen- 
trated powers.  Inventive  genius,  divinely  guided,  is  fast  altering 
the  face  of  earth,  and  converting  the  elements  of  nature,  together 

17* 


394 


WASHINGTON. 


with  her  laws,  into  instruments  and  artificial  powers,  wherewith  to 
augment  the  fruitfulness  of  human  industry,  and  the  products  of 
cultivated  soils.  Labor-saving  machinery  iu creases  the  yield  of  ag- 
ricultural science,  facihtates  transportation,  and  enriches  commerce 
through  the  varied  wealth  it  affords  for  exchange.  The  steam- 
engine,  spinning-jenny,  and  power-loom,  consume  neither  food  nor 
clothing,  while  they  accomplish  more  labor  than  milHons  of  weary 
human  hands.  How  wonderfully  does  mechanical  science  augment 
the  products  of  industry,  multiply  the  comforts  and  diminish  the 
diseases  of  life,  developing  the  resources,  and  increasing  the  capital, 
intelligence,  and  power  of  a  nation  ! 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  islands  in  hot  climates,  agi'iculture 
never  did  flourish  in  any  country  where  the  mechanic  arts  were 
not  flourishing.  Nearly  all  the  grains,  vegetables,  and  plants,  as 
well  as  fruits,  which  afford  support  to  our  spreading  population, 
and  replenish  the  marts  of  trade,  once  grew  spontaneously  in  east- 
ern climes,  whence  they  were  transplanted  to  constitute  the  advan- 
tages and  reward  of  western  agriculture.  As  soon  as  the  pioneer 
of  a  new  region  acquires  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  mechanic 
arts,  and  learns  to  construct  tools  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of 
earth,  he  is  able  to  convert  its  products  into  the  means  of  comfort, 
and  the  staples  of  commerce.  One  discovery  leads  to  another  yet 
more  prolific  of  good,  and  every  improvement  in  mechanical  science 
not  only  multiplies  the  enjoyments  of  rational  man,  but  contributes 
to  promote  his  health,  increase  his  longevity,  and  augments  the 
products  of  every  realm  of  nature,  in  quantity,  quality,  and  value. 
Agriculture  is  therefore  dependent  upon  mechanical  science,  not 
only  for  its  origin,  but  also  for  every  step  of  its  progress  in  the  sub- 
lime march  of  invincible  civilization.  Agriculture  has  less  direct 
influence  upon  the  wealth  and  power  of  a  nation  than  commerce, 
but  it  is  most  conservative  of  the  highest  national  weal.  Minds 
engaged  in  the  latter  purs-uit  are  more  active  and  acute,  more  in- 
clined to  seek  after  new  discoveries  and  such  inventions  as  most 
favor  zealous  enterprise ;  hence,  nearly  all  great  material  improve- 
ments have  been  made  by  the  mechanical,  manufacturing,  and  com- 
mercial classes.  Their  minds  are  fuller  of  schemes  and  projects, 
often  ill-digested ;  and  they  have  more  energy,  but  less  stability  of 
character,  usually,  than  agriculturists.    They  are  more  daring,  but 


SCIENCE. 


395 


less  safe ;  their  operations,'  unlike  the  salutary  effects  of  bucolic 
toil,  frequently  partaking  of  tlie  character  of  gambling  speculations. 

Most  of  our.  colonies  were  planted  by  commercial  companies, 
and  primarily  depended  on  commercial  gain  for  their  chief  support. 
But  as  our  national  resources  and  dangers  have  multiphed,  very 
fortunately  the  conservative  power  of  the  rural  populations  has  pro- 
portionatiey  increased ;  so  that  at  the  present  moment  of  peril,  the 
mighty  palladium  of  our  Republic  lies  along  the  magnificent  ex- 
panse of  our  western  agriculture. 

The  propulsive  energies  and  ennobling  tendencies  of  this  age  and 
nation  consist  mainly  in  its  riiechanical,  mining,  and  manufacturing 
industjy,  as  the  main  feeders  and  conservators  of  its  commerce. 
These  lead  to  mental  activity  and  independence,  entei-prise  and  in- 
ventions which  contribute  to  the  largest  measure  of  productive 
results,  and  most  ameliorate  the  various  conditions  of  life.  Had 
•we  longr  been  limited  to  the  narrow  area  of  the  orimnal  thirteen 
colonies,  the  preponderance  of  the  commercial  spirit  would  proba- 
bly have  ruined  us ;  but  happily  the  maritime  coast  around  the 
little  East,  extended  as  it  may  appear,  is  vastly  exceeded  by  the 
widening  dominions  of  agriculture  opened  in  the  great  West,  whose 
inexhaustible  richness  guaranties  the  perpetuity  of  our  union  and 
the  supphes  of  our  food.  Thither  millions  are  escaping  from  the 
old  world,  painfully  recollecting  how  many  small  homes  they  have 
seen  demolished,  to  make  way  for  the  exclusive  parks  and  aristo- 
cratic mansions  wherein  they  could  find  neither  sympathy  nor  sup- 
port. But  on  the  virgin  soil  where  rugged  emigrants  build  their 
cabins  of  content,  the  sense  of  property  becomes  the  truest  of 
magicians ;  it  is  to  them  the  consciousness  of  powder,  and  the 
feeling  of  value  in  self-relpng  effort.  Arthur  Young  w^ell  said, 
"  Give  a  man  nine  years'  lease  of  a  garden,  and  he  will  turn  it  into 
a  desert ;  give  a  man  entire  possession  of  a  rock  and  he  will  turn  it 
into  a  garden."  The  vast  basin  of  the  Mississippi  mil  soon  be- 
come the  paradise  of  republicanism,  the  chief  fountain  of  ameHor- 
ating  civihzation,  and  the  central  granaiy  of  the  world. 

The  first  canal  that  was  opened  in  the  United  States  extended 
from  Boston  to  the  river  Merrimac.  The  "  Great  Western"  soon 
after  was  undertaken,  and  now  the  finest  canals  in  the  country 
connect  the  Hudson  with  the  grand  series  of  inland  seas,  and  thence 


396 


WASHINGTON. 


extend  beyond  the  Ohio.  The  first  raih-oad  was  also  constructed 
at  the  eastern  extremity  of  our  republic,  and  was  the  beginning  of 
a  continuous  thoroughfare  of  rock  and  iron  which  at  this  time  ex- 
tends due  west  a  greater  length,  and  with  more  abundant  profit, 
than  can  elsewhere  be  found  on  earth.  The  first  steamboat  was 
built  in  this  city,  and  made  her  trial  trip  between  the  focal-point 
of  universal  maritime  navigation  and  the  predestined  line  of  the 
grandest  inland  travel  direct  from  east  to  west.  As  canal,  rail- 
road, and  steamboat  were  wanted,  they  were  produced,  exactly  in 
the  places  and  exigences  best  fitted  to  give  them  the  widest  and 
most  salutary  use.  Neither  Fulton  nor  CHnton  dreamed  of  what 
gigantic  results  they  were  the  incipient  agents.  Even  Jefferson, 
who  as  unconsciously  served  the  hidden  purposes  of  Providence  in 
the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  when  told  of  the  proposed  artery  of 
commerce  which  now  winds  like  a  thread  of  silver  through  this 
imperial  Commonwealth,  said  that  "  it  was  a  very  fine  project,  and 
might  be  executed  a  hundred  years  hence."  A  hundred  years 
hence !  What  will  science  have  done  for  our  nation  before  that 
period  shall  have  transpired  ? 

The  advanced  races  are  always  the  goers,  while  the  less  advanced 
are  the  stayers  at  home.  Therefore  the  improvement  of  locomo- 
tion is  one  of  the  first  essentials  in  the  progression  of  mankind,  to 
clog  which  is  not  merely  a  crime  against  the  individual,  but  against 
humanity  itself.  Man,  aided  by  the  facilities  which  mechanical 
engineering  has  provided,  is  armed  with  the  powers  of  nature ;  he 
has  vanquished  his  opponent,  and  enlisted  her  forces  in  his  service. 
Matter  is  no  longer  an  impediment  to  oppose  him,  but  the  arsenal 
from  which  he  draws  his  mightiest  weapons  and  richest  stores. 
Coal  and  water  become  concentrated  forces,  whose  powers  he  may 
develop  and  control  for  the  extension  and  improvement  of  his  ter- 
restrial dominion.  One  single  steam-engine  constructed  by  me- 
chanical science,  is  of  more  real  importance  than  all  the  powers  of 
Rome,  and  a  single  printing-press  than  all  the  arts  of  Greece. 
They  are  more  than  mere  instruments,  they  are  prodigious  powers, 
placed  at  human  disposal.  They  are  products  of  reason  ;  and  just 
as  that  highest  mental  attribute  learns  to  see  further  and  further 
into  the  processes  of  nature,  so  does  man  by  such  means  acquire 
new  power  for  extracting  welfare  from  the  earth.    When  Humboldt 


SCIENCE. 


397 


would  enumerate  only  a  few  of  the  instruments  Avhose  invention 
characterizes  this  great  epoch  in  the  history  of  civilization,  he 
names  "  the  telescope,  and  its  long-delayed  connection  with  instru- 
ments of  measurement ;  the  compound  microscope,  which  furnishes 
us  with  the  means  of  tracing  the  conditions  of  the  process  of  devel- 
opment of  organs,  which  Aristotle  gracefully  designates  as  the 
formative  activity  of  the  source  of  being ;  the  compass,  and  the 
different  contrivances  invented  for  measuring  terrestrial  magnetism ; 
the  use  of  the  pendulum  as  a  measure  of  time ;  the  barometer ; 
hygrometric  and  electrometric  apparatuses  ;  and  the  polariscope,  in 
its  application  to  the  phenomena  of  colored  polarization  in  the 
light  of  the  stars,  or  in  luminous  regions  of  the  atmosphere." 
Chemistry  instructs  us  as  to  what  and  whence  the  metals  are  ;  and 
from  the  grossest  dregs  elicits  flaming  gas,  that  great  morahzer  of 
modern  cities,  more  powerful  than  an  armed  police.  Mechanics  and 
chemistry  furnish  us  with  an  endless  variety  of  substances,  in  com- 
binations infinitely  diversified,  all  tending  to  give  man  more  power, 
leisure,  and  comfort ;  to  make  him,  in  fact,  freer,  and  more  elevated 
in  his  position  on  the  globe.  Instead  of  being  the  slave  of  phys- 
ical nature,  science  renders  man  its  master,  as  the  Creator  intended 
him  to  be  when  he  gave  him  an  earthly  dominion. 

An  immense  amelioration  has  taken  place  in  the  condition  of 
modern  society.  Man  has  extended  the  limits  of  his  hfe,  has  intel- 
ligently constructed  circumstances  less  fatal  to  his  organism,  and 
has  vastly  diminished  his  liability  to  dissolution ;  in  fact,  he  has,  to 
a  certain  extent,  beaten  the  evils  of  the  physiological  world,  exactly 
as  he  has  vanquished  the  difficulties  of  the  mechanical  world. 
Better  dwellings,  clothing,  and  food ;  more  abundant  supplies  of 
water  and  pure  air,  and  prompt  treatment  under  acute  disease; 
inoculation  and  vaccination ;  the  improvement  of  j^risons  and  work- 
houses, and  a  more  rational  mode  of  treating  the  human  frame  both 
individual  and  collective,  has  secured  to  civilized  man  a  lono-er 
tenancy  and  happier  use  of  terrestrial  existence.  Thus,  the  sciences 
not  only  lead  to  an  amended  order  of  action,  but  also  to  a  condition 
amended  and  improved  as  well.  And  we  confidently  believe  that 
the  very  same  kind  of  improvements  that  have  followed  the  mathe- 
matical and  physical  sciences  will  supervene  upon  social  science, 
and  achieve  in  the  world  of  progressive  man  far  gi'eater  and  more 


398 


WASHINGTON. 


beneficent  wonders  than  have  yet  been  achieved  in  the  world  of 
subordinate  matter. 

Civihzation  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  great  rivers  of  the 
East,  and  its  grandeurs  were  first  accumulated  round  the  Mediter- 
ranean, under  the  sway  of  Greece  and  Kome.  The  mediaeval  age 
enabled  European  nations  to  develop  their  ultimate  energies  on  the 
border  of  the  Atlantic,  and,  with  ships  vastly  superior  to  the 
triremes  of  antiquity,  to  take  possession  of  the  immense  expanse  of 
oceanic  billows.  Coincident  with  the  establishment  of  great  com- 
mercial exchanges  in  this  new  world,  that  masterly  monument  of 
mechanical  science,  the  Eddystone  lighthouse  arose  on  the  line  of 
all  progress,  and  guided  the  old  powers  and  inert  capital  of  Europe 
to  improved  enlargement  and  use  in  America.  The  great  currents 
of  the  sea  and  trade- winds  of  heaven  move  westward  alike  and 
evermore.  Science  daily  adds  new  capacities  and  momentum  in 
aid  of  transportation.  Young  as  we  are  as  a  nation,  our  boats, 
yachts,  clippers,  and  steamships  are  the  first  in  the  world.  The 
child  of  the  East  has  become  a  man  in  the  West,  where  oriental 
toys  have  expanded  into  colossal  instruments  proportioned  to  the 
occasions  and  efficiency  of  their  requisite  use.  But  no  inventor  is 
taken  captive  by  his  inventions  here,  however  potent  they  may  be. 
Every  improvement  lessens  the  impress  of  local  character,  and  pre- 
vents a  separation  of  the  nation  into  distinct  peoples.  Petty  cliques 
and  transient  conflicts  may  sometimes  occur ;  but  deep  in  the  pop- 
ular heart  the  great  social  country  engrosses  the  profoundest 
regard,  and  entirely  preponderates  over  the  geographical  country. 

The  finest  bricks  are  made  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan; and  the  best  materials  for  the  manufacture  of  flint  glass 
abound  in  Minnesota.  Lead  and  copper  of  great  purity  and  in 
astonishing  abundance  attract  and  reward  industry  beyond  the 
grandest  of  inland  seas ;  and  silver  mixed  with  gold  in  fabulous 
profusion  draws  enterprise  over  the  diameter  of  earth  to  explore 
nature's  great  storehouse  along  the  Pacific  shores.  But  better  and 
more  permanently  profitable  for  man  than  all  else  of  mundane 
wealth,  are  the  more  substantial  treasures  which  are  buried  with 
inexhaustible  richness  on  the  terra  firma  route,  preordained  for 
ameliorated  humanity  to  pursue  from  east  to  west.  Coal  and  iron 
constitute  the  chief  motor  and  metor  of  all  physical  improvement. 


SCIENCE. 


399 


Like  freedom,  superior  intelligence,  and  exalted  moral  worth,  they 
are  the  special  gifts  of  God  to  those  who  speak  the  English 
language,  and  will  be  found  most  copious  in  those  remote  regions 
where  republicans  are  destined  to  be  most  free. 

As  the  prominent  inventions  of  a  people  are  the  best  exponents  of 
their  peculiar  genius,  and  the  clearest  prophecies  of  prospective  tri- 
umphs, so  does  the  energy  of  their  educational  zeal  indicate  the 
measure  and  immediateness  of  their  success.  The  successive  de- 
partments of  political  and  mechanical  science  we  have  severally 
considered  above ;  let  us  now  give  more  particular  attention  to  the 
science  of  education  as  exemplified  in  our  land. 

All  human  progress,  political,  intellectual,  and  moral,  is  insepar- 
able from  material  progression,  by  virtue  of  the  close  interconnec- 
tion which  characterizes  the  natural  course  of  social  phenomena. 
But  the  educational  element  must  form  the  principal  band  of  the 
scientific  sheaf,  from  its  various  relations,  both  of  subordination  and 
of  direction  to  all  the  rest.    It  is  in  this  way  that  the  homogeneous 
co-ordination  of  legitimate  sciences  proceeds  to  the  fullest  develop- 
ment, and  for  the  widest  ulterior  influence  on  human  destiny.  The 
filiation  and  adaptation  of  all  great  discoveries  for  the  popular  good, 
affords  a  fine  subject  for  grateful  contemplation,  and  is  the  most 
exhilarating  guaranty  to  the  loftiest  hopes.    The  general  intellect, 
under  the  auspices  of  American  freedom,  now,  and  for  the  first  time, 
is  entering  upon  the  age  of  amehorating  science.    It  is  an  advent 
to  be  hailed  with  chastened  joy,  and  to  be  guarded  by  vigilant  ex- 
pectation.   In  comparative  anatomy  it  is  well  known  that  a  Cuvier 
may  determine,  from  a  single  joint,  tooth,  or  other  fragment  of  an 
animal,  whose  species  had  never  entered  human  eye  or  imagination, 
not  only  its  general  configuration,  size,  family,  and  grade  in  the 
series  of  organic  beings,  but  also  its  physiological  constitution,  its 
manners,  its  food,  its  climatic  habitation,  whether  in  the  geography 
or  the  chronology  of  the  globe.    Even  so  equal  knowledge  of  the 
analogous  laws  of  symmetry  and  mutual  dependence  in  the  social 
system,  eventually  attainable,  and  to  be  applied  to  extant  usages  or 
disinterred  relics,  will  enable  its  possessor,  by  a  single  specimen, 
accurately  to  fix  the  entire  condition  of  the  corresponding  people  on 
the  scale  of  civihzation.    Tried  by  this  criterion,  what  monuments 
of  national  mind  may  we  not  anticipate  for  the  futui'e,  while  we 


400 


WASHINGTON. 


contemplate  the  results  already  attained  by  our  brief  but  glorious 
past.  As  the  greater  Newton  succeeded  the  great  Kepler,  and  was 
in  turn  followed  by  La  Place,  who  explained  the  physical  counter- 
part of  his  predecessor's  theory  by  the  law  of  gravitation  imper- 
fectly understood  by  its  own  discoverer,  so  do  we  believe  that  the 
inductive  method  re-established  by  Francis  Bacon  will  be  consum- 
mated in  our  central  clime,  amid  greatly  increased  splendors,  by 
the  mental  manhood  of  the  twentieth  century. 

The  great  prophet  of  science  to  whom  we  have  just  referred, 
lived  mostly  in  the  future,  and  in  his  last  will  he  left  "  his  name 
and  memory  to  foreign  nations  and  to  the  next  ages."  He  had 
crossed  the  Atlantic,  whose  storms  men  had  penetrated  for  ages 
without  perceiving  the  fair  omens  of  progress,  but  in  the  confidence 
of  his  prophetic  intuition  he  gave  the  name  of  Good  Hope  to  the 
headland  he  had  reached  ;  as  Magellan,  when  he  beheld  the  bound- 
less expanse  of  waters  in  another  direction,  called  it  the  Pacific. 
The  seeds  which  Bacon  sowed  have  here  sprung  up,  and  are  grow- 
ing to  a  mighty  tree,  and  the  thoughts  of  milHons  come  to  lodge 
in  its  branches.  Those  branches  spread  "  so  broad  and  long,  that 
in  the  ground  the  bended  twigs  took  root,  and  daughters  grew 
about  the  mother  tree,  a  pillared  shade  high  overarched,  and  echo- 
ing walks  between  ;"  walks  where  Literature  may  hang  her  wreaths 
upon  the  massy  stems,  and  Art  may  adorn  that  Religion,  of  which 
Science  erects  the  hundred-aisled  temple.  The  preparation  made 
for  the  present  age,  and  the  high  anticipations  entertained  by  the 
last  and  wisest  of  its  precursors,  is  set  forth  as  follows  near  the 
close  of  his  Advancement  of  Learning  :  "  Being  now  at  some 
pause,  looking  back  into  that  I  have  past  through,  this  writing 
seemeth  to  me,  as  far  as  a  man  can  judge  of  his  own  work,  not 
much  better  than  that  noise  or  sound  which  musicians  make  while 
they  are  tuning  their  instruments ;  which  is  nothing  pleasant  to 
hear,  yet  is  a  cause  why  the  music  is  sweeter  afterward :  so  have  I 
been  content  to  tune  the  instruments  of  the  muses,  that  they  may 
play  who  have  better  hands.  And  surely,  when  I  set  before  me  the 
condition  of  these  times,  in  which  Learning  hath  made  her  third 
visitation  or  circuit,  in  all  the  qualities  thereof — as  the  excellency 
and  vivacity  of  the  wits  of  this  age — the  noble  helps  and  lights 
which  we  have  by  the  travails  of  ancient  writers — the  art  of  print- 


SCIENCE. 


401 


ing,  which  communicateth  books  to  men  of  all  fortunes — the 
openness  of  the  world  by  navigation,  which  hath  disclosed  multi- 
tudes of  experiments  and  a  mass  of  natural  history — the  leisure 
wherewith  these  times  abound,  not  employing  men  so  generally  in 
civil  business,  as  the  states  of  Greece  did  in  respect  of  their  popu- 
larity, and  the  state  of  Rome  in  respect  of  the  greatness  of  hei' 
monarchy,  the  present  disposition  of  these  times  to  peace,  and  the 
inseparable  propriety  of  time,  which  is  ever  more  and  more  to  dis- 
close truth — I  can  not  but  be  raised  to  this  persuasion,  that  this 
third  period  of  time  will  far  surpass  that  of  the  Grecian  and  Roman 
learning." 

In  1647  the  Plymouth  colony  of  Massachusetts  passed  an  Act 
"  that  every  township  of  fifty  householders  should  appoint  a  person 
to  teach  all  the  children  to  read  and  write,  and  that  every  township 
of  one  hundred  families  should  support  a  grammar-school." 

In  the  following  year  (1648)  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the 
colony  of  Connecticut,  passed  a  statute  in  relation  to  education  of 
very  nearly  the  same  purport  as  that  passed  in  Massachusetts.  The 
Puritans  of  New  England  entertained  the  same  opinion  as  the 
Presbyterians  of  Scotland,  that  education  is  necessary  to  the  per- 
formance of  religious  duty ;  and  the  former  seem  to  have  borrowed 
their  ideas  and  system  of  education  substantially  from  the  latter. 
This  was  the  foundation  of  the  system  of  common-school  education, 
which  was  adopted  in  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  and  has  been  more  recently  adopted  in 
nearly  all  the  free  States.  While  no  effort  has  been  made  to  give 
the  whole  population  of  England  a  common-school  education,  and 
Parliament  persists  in  discouraging  such  an  undertaking,  our  newest 
western  States  even  exceed  New  England  in  their  educational  zeal. 

The  first  college  in  America  was  founded  on  the  eastern  edge  of 
Plymouth  colony,  and  has  been  succeeded  by  a  series  of  rivals 
stretching  due  west,  so  rapidly  and  widely  multiplied  in  numbers 
and  patronage,  that  now  the  new  States  possess  richer  advantages 
for  learning  than  the  old.  A  self-educated  seaman,  born  in  the 
same  region  of  rock  and  ice,  was  the  first  to  translate  and  publish 
with  emendations  the  profoundest  mathematical  works  of  modern 
times  ;  and  now  there  are  successful  aspirants  after  like  distinction, 
whose  towers  of  science  stand  reflected  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio, 


402 


WASHINGTON. 


casting  their  shadows  still  onward  before  the  ascending  sun.  It  was 
fitting  that  the  most  learned  President  of  the  United  States  should 
travel  from  Pilgrim  Rock  to  the  "  Mount  Adams"  of  westward 
empire,  whereon  he  laid  the  comer  stone  of  the  only  Observatory 
extant,  which  is  sustained  by  popular  subscription,  and  rendered 
renowned  by  private  enterprise.  In  that  "  Queen  City,"  which 
seems  like  a  thing  of  yesterday,  not  only  has  the  pendulum  of  Ga- 
lileo been  made  to  measure  the  diameter  of  a  single  planet,  but  one 
of  the  most  valuable  inventions  of  this  age,  the  astronomical  clock, 
there  first  beat  in  its  sublime  reckoning  of  the  universe.  A  printer 
born  in  Boston,  was  armed  by  Providence  with  paper  and  twine 
through  which  to  draw  harmless  lightnings  from  the  skies  ;  and  a 
painter  in  New  York,  under  the  same  heavenly  guidance,  and  at 
the  fitting  time,  charged  the  celestial  messenger  with  a  kindred 
burden  of  human  intelligence,  and  dispatched  it  first  fi-om  the  cap- 
itol  of  our  Union  to  instruct  and  ameliorate  mankind.  Coincident 
with  the  latter  discovery,  mechanical  science  in  this  great  metrop- 
olis perfected  a  still  more  imperial  civilizer,  the  steam  power-press ; 
and  now  not  an  element  of  nature  expands,  not  a  conquest  of  sci- 
ence is  matured,  and  not  an  inspiration  of  genius  fulmines  in  the 
gloom  of  penury,  or  around  the  pinnacles  of  power,  that  the  press 
does  not  gather  all  the  aggregated  excellence  in  subordination  to 
its  use,  to  enhance  the  benefactions  of  ennobling  intelligence  upon 
which  it  subsists.  In  Boston,  ether  was  first  applied  to  ameHorate 
the  dreaded  pain  of  surgical  steel,  to  mitigate  the  bitterest  physical 
pangs,  and  rob  Death  himself  of  half  his  spiritual  terrors.  In  Cin- 
cinnati, the  st-eam  fire  engine  has  just  been  added  to  other  mighty 
conservative  agents.  As  the  general  alarm  aggravates  rnidnight 
terrors,  and  the  gains  of  a  toilsome  life  are  threatened  by  the  re- 
morseless conflagration,  glaring  in  lofty  defiance  to  ordinary  resist- 
ance, a  tiny  match  kindles  the  ardor  of  invincible  union  between 
diverse  elements  in  united  opposition,  and  agitated  crowds  are 
soon  awed  into  admiring  silence,  as  the  mighty  flames  are  speedily 
drowned.  One  of  our  citizens  has  recently  mapped  the  ocean  of 
international  commerce  with  all  its  old  currents  of  power  saga- 
ciously discriminated,  and  newly  traced  as  the  best  channels  of 
safety.  Another,  venturing  where  no  predecessor  had  ever  been 
has  jugt  returned  from  the  regLons  of  perpetual  ice^  to  win  the 


SCIENCE. 


403 


grateful  applause  of  Christendom  for  the  material  wonders  he  dis- 
covered and  the  beneficent  spirit  he  displayed.  A  clergyman  of 
this  city,  for  his  researches  in  Palestine,  was  the  first  of  four  Amer- 
icans who,  within  the  last  fifteen  years,  have  been  decorated  with 
the  golden  medals  of  foreign  honors ;  one  of  whom,  on  account 
of  his  explorations  in  the  opposite  direction,  whither  tends  the 
greatest  public  good,  has  just  been  nominated  to  the  highest  secu- 
lar dignity  possible  on  earth. 

The  restless  and  insatiable  activity  of  Americans  in  scientific 
research  and  moral  heroism,  was  finely  personated  by  Ulysses 
of  old.  Sick  of  Ithaca,  Argos,  Telemachus,  and  Penelope  even, 
the  old  and  indomitable  mariner-king  panted  for  untried  dangers 
and  undiscovered  lands.  His  purpose  was  "  to  sail  beyond  the  sun- 
set, and  the  baths  of  all  the  western  stars,  until  he  died."  Thus  ac- 
tuated, man  is  lifted  to  a  higher  platform  of  observation  whence  he 
may  read  the  book  of  gemmed  pictures  illuminating  his  nights,  and 
revealed  to  fill  his  soul  with  an  inspiration  more  grand  and  inspir- 
iting than  any  terrestrial  object  can  communicate.  It  is  the  le- 
gitimate and  appropriate  sequence  of  the  new  revelations  of  modern 
>  >  science,  and  is  designed  more  and  more  to  render  the  master  of 
earth  free  of  the  universe.  In  his  heavenly  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions,  and  these  with  all  their  expansive  marvels  are  unfolded 
in  salutary  enlargedness,  in  order  that  their  predestined  possessor 
through  a  corresponding  education  in  their  presence,  may  ex- 
pand his  spirit  till  it  shall  become  approximatively  unbounded  in  a 
creation  without  bounds.  The  telescope,  the  compass,  the  press, 
the  locomotive,  and  the  telegraph,  have  in  succession,  and  with 
vastly  increased  degrees  of  power,  infused  into  the  heart  of  human- 
ity a  sense  of  freedom,  and  in  that  influence  their  chief  benefaction 
consists.  Each  new  province  annexed  to  the  magnificent  domain 
of  present  knowledge  points  more  clearly  to  still  richer  provinces  be- 
yond ;  and  on  the  remotest  border  of  all,  human  immortality  and  in- 
finite progress  are  most  legibly  inscribed.  "  Forward"  and  "  forever" 
are  exhortations  not  only  vocal  in  the  music  of  the  spheres,  but 
are  repeated  to  the  adventurer  by  the  remotest  billows,  and  quicken 
the  passion  for  profounder  investigation  in  the  darkest  depths. 

The  regulator  of  the  steam-engine  was  invented  in  Massachu- 
setts, where  also  originated  most  of  the  superior  cotton  and  woolen 


404  WASHINGTON. 

machinery  now  generally  employed.  The  locomotive  was  there 
entirely  re-cast,  and  immensely  improved.  When  the  perfected 
"  iron  horse"  thence  advanced,  surmounted  by  that  indigenous  em- 
bodiment of  democratic  huzzas,  the  steam  whistle,  "  Young  Amer- 
ica" was  just  beginning  to  go  ahead.  When  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  University  in  this  city,  the  sun-picture  was  first  invented,  simul- 
taneously with  the  labors  of  Daguerre,  the  same  promising  youth 
was  favored  with  a  glance  of  what  he  is  yet  to  be.  And  when 
that  first  telegraphic  message,  "  What  hath  God  wrought !"  was  let 
fly  with  the  lucid  freedom  of  lightning,  Young  America,  standing 
on  the  summit  of  six  thousand  years,  and  born  to  renovate  the 
race  whose  final  destiny  he  represents,  had  then,  indeed,  begun  to 
talk. 

A  comprehensive  view  of  political,  mechanical,  and  educational 
science  in  our  country  will  teach  us  that  the  mightiest  minds  are 
more  and  more  compelled  to  serve  the  masses  ;  and  that  the  most 
enormous  outlay  of  capital  in  either  ponderous  or  exquisite  pro- 
ducing agents,  is  all  in  favor  of  the  undistinguished  populace,  and 
not  for  the  special  advantage  of  a  select  few\  The  most  subtle  and 
refined  machinery,  for  example,  is  not  applied  to  the  most  delicate 
and  elegant  kind  of  work,  such  as  gold  and  silver,  jewels  and  em- 
broidery. These  luxuries  are  mainly  executed  by  hand,  while  the 
most  expensive  machinery  is  brought  into  play  where  operations  on 
the  commonest  materials  are  to  be  performed,  because  these  are 
executed  on  the  widest  scale.  Such  is  especially  the  case  when 
coarse  and  ordinary  wares  are  manufactured  for  the  many.  This 
is  why  such  a  vast  and  astonishing  variety  of  artificial  power  is 
used  in  our  country  and  age.  The  machine  with  its  milhon  fingers 
works  for  millions  of  purchasers,  while  in  lands  less  free,  where 
magnificence  and  beggary  stand  side  by  side,  tens  of  thousands 
work  for  one.  There  Art  and  Science  labor  for  princely  aristocrats 
only  ;  here,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  their  chosen  and  most 
munificent  patrons. 

All  great  workers,  and  the  improvements  they  originate,  find 
their  legitimate  use  only  in  the  enunciation  of  great  truths  for  the 
popular  good.  Thus  it  is  that  the  relation  of  men  to  each  other  and 
to  the  whole  world  is  progressively  changed,  and  that  always  in  the 
direction  of  increased  equality.    The  universal  mind  receives  sim- 


SCIENCE. 


405 


ultaneously  the  impression  of  each  new  idea;  it  imprints  itself 
upon  domestic  institutions,  infuses  itself  into  literature,  reconstructs 
political  formulas,  and  in  some  measure  both  impels  and  controls 
the  religious  hfe.  It  has  lately  been  proved  that  the  whole  earth 
is  a  magnet,  and  all  mental  achievements  in  our  day  tend  to  ren- 
der the  domain  of  American  civilization  one  immense  university 
of  science.  At  each  remove  toward  western  freedom,  progressive 
man  has  shown  his  mastery  by  compelling  all  the  elements  to  help 
create  and  grace  his  triumphs.  The  waters  turned  from  their 
courses  to  move  his  mills ;  the  sportive  zephyrs  and  angry  winds 
imprisoned  in  his  sails  ;  the  flying  vapor  taken  captive  to  whirl  his 
myriad  of  spindles,  or  send  the  "  Iron  Missionary"  tramp,  tramp 
over  the  earth,  splash,  splash  across  the  sea  ;  the  soft  light  he  makes 
ministrant  to  the  dearest  joys,  depicting  by  it  the  portrait  of  ten- 
derest  love ;  and  the  latent  flame  which  sings  along  the  wires  by 
lines  of  railway ;  all  alike  and  together  prophesy  of  mightier  and 
better  things  to  come. 

Facilities  of  knowledge  are  the  auspicious  means  of  transfusing 
into  the  soul  those  ideas  which  are  the  tools  vouchsafed  to  shape 
the  destiny  of  our  race.  The  dynasty  of  a  new  thought  is  much 
more  glorious  than  the  pedigree  of  old  kings ;  and  the  future  of 
free  America  will  infinitely  transcend  in  worth  and  well-doing  all 
the  arbitrary  dignities  and  adventitious  splendors  gone  by. 

The  machinery  of  production  in  America  is  already  greater  than 
that  of  England.  Our  twenty-three  millions  of  citizens  produce  a 
larger  amount  of  valuable  staples,  while  they  build  twice  as  many 
houses ;  make  twice  as  many  roads ;  apply  three  times  more  labor 
in  the  improvement  of  land ;  build  four  times  as  many  school- 
houses  and  churches ;  and  print  ten  times  as  many  newspapers. 
We  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a  pyramid  whose  base  is  a  million 
of  square  miles,  studded  all  over  with  innumerable  little  communi- 
ties, each  one  of  which  occupies  space  sufficient  for  a  large  one, 
with  its  academy,  or  its  college,  its  journals,  bookstores,  and  libra- 
ries, all  aiding  to  give  to  the  superstructure  a  magnificence  propor-^ 
tioned  to  the  breadth  and  stability  of  its  base.  Among  the  more 
western  States,  not  less  than  in  the  eastern,  there  is  universal  activ- 
ity and  intelhgence.  It  is  safe  to  repeat  that  the  commonwealths 
recently  organized  have  more  and  better  printing-presses,  and  con- 


406 


WASHINGTON. 


sume  more  well-read  paper;  that  they  have  more  commodious 
school-houses,  and  more  scholars  in  them ;  more  churches,  and 
more  devout  Christians  in  them ;  more  well-selected  hbraries, 
and  more  thoughtful  readers  in  them,  than  any  other  nation  on 
earth. 

What  our  future  may  become,  our  brief  past  will  best  suggest. 
We  know  that  however  high  we  may  ascend  the  course  of  history, 
we  see,  not  in  each  or  any  particular  people,  but  in  the  human 
family  as  a  whole,  an  uninterrupted  endeavor  to  enlarge  the  bound- 
aries of  knowledge  always  progressive ;  so  that,  from  the  obscurity 
of  earliest  time,  we  arrive  step  by  step  to  modern  science,  more 
certain,  more  extended,  and  more  prolific,  in  practical  results  than 
was  ever  known  in  preceding  ages.  This  progress  is  proved  by 
the  sovereignty  which  man  has  successively  acquired  over  nature, 
subordinating  to  his  will  her  most  energetic  forces,  and  compelling 
them  to  accomplish  the  highest  ends  in  the  surest  manner.  We 
see  what  the  earth,  transformed  in  an  immense  portion  of  its  best 
surface,  has  become  under  his  hand.  He  subdues  the  billows, 
traverses  seas,  and  his  invincible  thought,  aspiring  to  still  sublimer 
empire,  makes  his  necessities  to  be  served  by  the  stars  which  vainly 
flee  in  the  deserts  of  space. 

From  the  survey  which  has  been  taken  above  of  the  spreading  of 
ameliorating  empire  in  the  great  West,  it  is  evident  that  its  central 
throne  must  soon  rest  on  the  granite  heights  beyond  the  great 
lakes,  near  the  sources  of  the  mighty  Mississippi.  .  Thither  the  free 
and  brave  millions  are  fast  gathering,  whose  noble  progeny  will 
people  the  entire  continent,  and  bless  the  world.  The  denizens  of 
those  wealthy  regions,  and  the  patriots  of  those  happy  times,  will 
be  both  intelligent  and  brave  beyond  precedent,  in  conserving  the 
republican  institutions  they  have  received  to  perfect  and  perpetuate. 
The  sentiment  of  the  great  man  of  the  extreme  East,  will  be  best 
appreciated,  and  most  sublimely  exemphfied,  in  proportion  as  it 
sweeps  with  the  sun  from  the  horizon  of  its  origin,  and,  from  the 
loftiest  Eocky  Mountains,  resounds  simultaneously  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  the  profoundest  sentiment  of  undivided  peoples,  "  Liberty 
and  union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable !" 


CHAPTER  IV. 


PHILOSOPHY. 

Human  history  is  a  perpetual  exodus,  and  its  promised  land  lias 
ever  been  in  the  West.  Bondage  to  escape,  seas  to  cross,  miracles 
to  witness,  conquests  to  win,  a  wilderness  to  traverse,  and  a  Goshen 
to  attain,  institutions  to  create,  and  all  the  seeds  of  a  newer  and 
nobler  civilization  to  propagate,  ever  has  been,  is  now,  and  ever- 
more will  be,  the  destiny  and  recompense  of  our  race. 

Greece  collected  the  materials  of  ideas  for  the  work  of  universal 
civilization,  Rome  consolidated  a  heterogeneous  mass  from  every 
department  of  thought,  and  our  Teutonic  ancestors  put  all  anterior 
results  into  generalized  systems,  preparatory  to  the  ultimate  per- 
fection of  civilized  society  on  this  continent  and  throughout  the 
world.  We  are  perfecting  the  last  republic  possible  in  space,  ending 
the  girdle  of  the  globe  we  were  created  to  redeem.  As  remote  as 
is  our  comprehensive  sphere  from  the  beginning  of  historic  devel- 
opment, we  are  indissolubly  hnked  to  the  one  divinely  identical 
purpose.  Our  Union  constitutes  the  final  member  of  an  association 
truly  majestic  and  holy,  the  design  of  which  is  to  elevate  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  men  to  the  utmost  heights  of  wisdom  and  worth. 

The  nations  are  not  destined  to  find  a  precarious  calm  in  their 
degradation.  They  can  never  be  subjugated  by  force,  even  should 
their  volitions  be  chained  for  a  season,  while  their  sentiments  are 
enervated  in  the  service  of  the  licentious.  The  great  law  of  human 
progress  will  not  long  permit  its  apathetic  subjects  to  be  passive 
and  mute  spectators,  impelled,  like  a  vile  horde,  firom  one  power  to 
another.  Revolutions  will  multiply,  and,  at  the  same  time,  become 
less  and  less  calamitous,  until  all  subjects  shall  become  citizens,  no 
longer  excluded  from  political  equality  and  moral  improvement. 
No  enterprise  shall  then  be  interdicted  to  adequate  skill,  and  no 


408 


WASHINGTON. 


arbitrary  action  impede  the  pursuit  of  honorable  gain.  The  popu- 
lar currency  of  opinion,  law,  and  affection,  must  eventually  be 
coined,  and  circulated  in  mutual  confidence,  and  bear  a  premium 
in  every  land.  Progress  in  human  society  is  necessitated  by  its 
primary  constitution.  The  social  union  of  men,  and  their  habitual 
communication  with  each  other,  produces  a  certain  advancement 
of  sentiments,  ideas,  and  reasonings,  which  can  not  be  suspended. 
This  constitutes  the  march  of  civiHzation,  and  the  perpetual  order 
of  the  day  is — forward!  It  leads  us,  necessarily,  to  successive 
epochs,  sometimes  peaceable  and  virtuous,  and  sometimes  criminal 
and  agitated,  sometimes  glorious,  and  at  others,  opprobrious ;  and, 
according  as  Providence  casts  us  into  one  condition  or  the  other, 
we  gather  the  happiness  or  the  suffering  attached  to  the  age  in 
whicli  we  live.  On  that  our  tastes,  opinions,  and  habitual  im- 
pressions, in  a  great  measure  depend.  Transient  events  may  mod- 
ify this  law,  but  no  finite  power  can  wrest  from  society  its  varied 
progress.  In  this  course  of  human  development,  the  accompanying 
circumstances  which  most  nearly  assume  the  form  of  an  exception 
are  themselves  so  enchained  as  most  strongly  to  corroborate  the 
general  rule.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  race  of  Adam,  enlightened  or 
benighted,  pursues  a  determined  route,  and  accomplishes  a  pre- 
scribed progress,  as  do  the  stars.  Now  clear,  and  anon  obscure,  at 
one  time  slow,  and  at  another  rapid  their  apparent  flight,  nothing 
arrests  the  inevitable  career,  nor  prevents  the  accumulative  good. 
Letters  shine,  science  advances,  the  arts  are  perfected,  and  splendors 
on  every  side  are  multiplied ;  then  arrives  the  moment  when  the 
opinions  generally  adopted,  and  the  prevailing  disposition  of  all 
leading  spirits  are  in  conflict  with  existing  institutions.  The  crash 
of  revolution  resounds,  and  governments  are  overthrown ;  forms  of 
religion  become  obsolete,  customs  change,  disorder  reigns,  and  pro- 
longed suffering  prostrates  the  people.  At  length  the  tempest  ex- 
hausts itself,  and  calm  is  restored.  The  necessity  of  repose  renders 
the  populace  docile  for  a  season,  and  they  lose  the  fiery  zeal  which 
at  first  characterized  their  newly  conquered  opinions.  A  new 
order  of  things  becomes  established  upon  a  higher  platform,  in  the 
tranquil  enjoyment  of  which  the  happy  inheritors  forget  the  sor- 
rows of  their  fathers.  Then  begins  a  newer,  if  not  a  sadder  ad- 
vance, which  leads  popular  ideas  again  into  conflict  with  existing 


PHILOSOPHY. 


409 


institutions,  whose  overthrow  results  in  yet  wider  catastrophes.  It 
is  thus  that  civilization,  by  vicissitudes  of  repose  and  agitation,  more 
or  less  contiguous  and  saddening,  conducts  the  nations  to  consum- 
mate perfection. 

Contempt  toward  mankind,  doubt  as  to  their  virtues,  and  de- 
spondency with  respect  to  their  ultimate  fortunes,  recur  but  too 
often  in  the  historians  of  philosophy.  But  it  is  more  noble  and 
more  truthful  never  to  despair  respecting  human  weal,  since  it  is 
only  in  the  light  of  hope  that  we  can  trace  a  route  for  virtue  and 
honor,  in  which  an  impulse  may  be  given  and  a  reward  found  for 
the  brave,  virtuous,  and  good.  At  the  moment  mediocrity  com- 
plains of  deepest  gloom,  genius  is  wont  to  perceive  and  proclaim 
the  advent  of  ascending  day,  the  fresh  dawn  of  which  rapidly 
develops  the  germs  of  all  that  is  requisite  to  create  a  new  world  and 
invest* it  with  transcendant  charms.  The  decemvirs  augmented 
their  tyranny  over  Rome,  until  a  particular  event  rendered  the 
weight  insupportable,  and  it  was  cast  down.  The  British  parliament 
despaired  of  rendering  the  nation  happy  under  the  domineering 
Stuarts,  and  the  dynasty  was  changed.  The  American  colonies 
found  themselves  oppressed  by  an  arbitrary  tax,  and  declared  them- 
selves independent.  Through  a  similar  course  of  opinions,  the 
sufferers  in  common  arrived  at  a  stage  where  the  existing  order  of 
things  needed  to  be  overthrown.  Fresh  ardor  and  new  activities 
seized  upon  and  impelled  all  spirits ;  each  one  was  impatient  under 
a  common  wrong,  and  ready  to  enter  the  battle  for  common  rights. 
At  such  a  crisis  is  manifested  the  maturity  of  a  thousand  remote  but 
cumulative  circumstances  which  bear  in  their  bosom  a  salutary 
piinciple  as  mighty  to  soothe  as  to  excite  the  pangs  of  its  birth.  It 
comes  with  an  additional  proof  that  the  chain  of  national  enthrall- 
ment  is  not  unending  or  insufferable,  but  that  the  crimes  of  revolu- 
tions will  decrease  in  proportion  as  their  exciting  cause  is  removed. 
Such  was  the  series  of  struggles  through  which  Greece  bloomed  in 
consummate  beauty ;  such  was  the  convulsion  which  conducted 
Rome  from  crude  republicanism  to  imperial  grandeur,  across  the 
field  of  outrageous  proscriptions  and  civil  wars ;  and  such  was  the 
long  commotion  which  the  Europe  of  our  day  experienced  in  the 
establishment  of  reform  :  a  bloody  period  which  marked  the  passage 
from  effete  and  oppressive  institutions  to  the  new  order  of  things. 

17 


410 


WASHINGTON. 


In  the  year  1800,  Lucien  Bonaparte  remarked,  "  We  are  stand- 
ing amid  the  grave  of  old  and  beside  the  cradle  of  new  institutions.'* 
It  was  indeed  true  that  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century  beheld 
the  world  invested  with  a  contrast  the  most  striking  and  strange  ; 
night  and  storm,  day  and  calm,  were  clearly  separated.  Even 
Asiatic  immobility  was  broken  up ;  and  Egypt,  the  cradle  of 
ci\alization,  was  rocked  from  side  to  side  in  the  tempests  of  northern 
ambition.  All  the  old  powers  of  Europe  were  alarmed  and  ex- 
hausted by  disorders  without  a  parallel  since  the  Roman  empire 
sank  in  fragments  beneath  the  crash  of  barbaric  arms.  The  New 
World  alone,  happily  isolated  fi'om  the  convulsed  parent  states  by 
a  wide  expanse  of  waters,  was  permitted  to  develop  in  peace  its 
primary  elements  of  personal  worth  and  national  greatness.  The  sud- 
den summons  of  death  had  just  removed  him  who  was  so  justly  desig- 
nated the  "  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  tlie  heai*ts  of  his 
countrymen but  sublimely  through  the  universal  gloom  occasioned 
by  such  a  bereavement,  the  sun  of  intelligence  and  philosophic  free- 
dom rose  clear  and  unchangeable  above  the  tomb  of  Washington. 

Throughout  the  whole  range  of  progressive  philosophy,  it  will  be 
found  that  there  exists  a  constant  and  necessary  harmony  between 
cotemporary  needs  and  knowledge.  Each  successive  age  produces 
its  appropriate  agents  who  in  their  own  persons  both  resume  the 
past  and  enlarge  the  future,  by  making  a  clearance  in  their  sublime 
field,  so  as  to  reconstruct  a  broader  and  more  brilliant  system  of 
ideas.  The  philosophy  of  the  middle  ages  was  distinguished  for 
submission  to  authority  other  than  that  of  reason,  the  overthrow  of 
which  vassalage  it  was  reserved  for  the  seventeenth  century  to 
inaugurate.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  the  sentiment  of  humanity 
was  developed,  consentaneously  with  mental  independence,  and 
thus  a  gTeat  step  fomard  was  taken  in  the  philosophy  of  history 
and  the  history  of  philosophy.  A  sounder  and  more  luminous 
psychology  was  originated  which  enabled  thinkers  guided  thereby 
to  render  to  themselves  a  reasonable  account  of  what  passes  in  self- 
consciousness,  which  is  the  \asible  scene  of  the  soul.  The  Cartesian 
revolution  came  to  illuminate  the  chaos  of  scholasticism,  and 
Brucker  led  the  mighty  host  of  mental  liberators  who  forever  pre- 
vented philosophy  from  re-entering  the  mediaeval  age.  From  east 
to  west  the  ameliorating  progress  arose  and  spread  with  constantly- 


PHILOSOPHY. 


411 


increased  power  and  profit/  As  early  as  1725,  Vico,  at  Naples, 
demonstrated  that  the  organic  development  of  great  transitional 
epochs,  so  manifest  in  the  connected  history  of  our  race,  contains 
proof  of  the  divine  supervision,  and  a  higher  manifestation  of  order, 
justice,  and  continuous  advancement  among  men,  than  any  argu- 
ment a  priori  can  supply.  Herder  fortified  this  idea  -with  a  still 
more  comprehensive  grasp  of  intellect  and  illustration,  which  con- 
stituted him  the  founder  of  the  philosophy  of  history.  He  took 
man  as  he  is,  the  microcosm  of  the  universe,  and,  by  a  higher 
philosophy,  did  much  to  escape  the  sensualism  and  shallowness  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  From  the  Romanic  negativeness  which 
prevailed  till  the  opening  of  our  age.  Herder  and  his  successors 
advanced  into  Teutonic  positiveness,  and  began  that  order  of  recon- 
structive philosophy  which  now  so  happily  prevails.  Shem,  with 
all  his  obsolete  traditions,  was  superseded,  and  the  universalized 
fabric  of  Japhetic  thought  arose  to  confer  a  greater  good.  France 
powerfully  co-operated  in  the  ameliorating  endeavors  of  that  mighty 
crusade  of  which  Montesquieu  was  a  patriarch  and  Condorcet  a 
martyr.  Leibnitz  believed  in  the  law  of  progress  in  all  the  con- 
cerns of  life.  The  present,  he  asserted,  was  born  of  the  past,  and 
is  pregnant  of  the  future.  The  vision  of  general  peace  he  regarded 
as  a  practical  idea,  and  anticipated  a  universal  language,  from 
which  eventually  every  trace  of  linguistic  confusion  would  disappear, 
and  the  union  of  all  hearts  be  consummated  in  the  blending  of 
harmonious  speech.  Descartes  had  entertained  like  views,  and 
these  earlier  prophets  of  a  lofty  destiny  were  worthily  succeeded  by 
Pascal,  who  wrote  as  follows :  "  By  a  special  prerogative  of  the 
human  race,  not  only  each  man  advances  day  by  day  in  the 
sciences,  but  all  men  together  make  a  continual  progress,  as  the 
universe  grows  old ;  because  the  same  thing  happens  in  the  suc- 
cession of  men  which  takes  place  in  the  different  ages  of  an 
individual.  So  that  the  succession  of  men,  in  the  cause  of  so  many 
ages,  may  be  regarded  as  one  man,  who  lives  always,  and  who 
learns  continually.  From  this  we  see  with  what  injustice  we 
respect  antiquity  in  philosophers ;  for,  since  old  age  is  the  period 
most  distant  from  infancy,  who  does  not  see  that  the  old  age  of  this 
universal  man  must  not  be  sought  in  the  times  nearest  his  birth,  but 
in  those  which  are  the  most  remote.    They,  whom  we  entitle 


412 


WASHINGTON. 


Ancients,  were  indeed  new  in  all  things,  and  properly  formed  the 
infancy  of  mankind ;  and  since  to  their  knowledge  we  have  joined 
the  experience  of  the  ages  which  have  followed  them,  it  is  in  our- 
selves that  is  to  be  found  that  antiquity  which  we  revere  in  others." 

England  is  constitutionally  negative  in  philosophy,  and  was 
especially  so  during  the  desolate  eighteenth  century,  while  her  best 
minds  were  driven  westward  over  ocean  to  flame  back  from  afar. 
But  even  then,  so  predominant  was  the  idea  of  progress  in  the 
greatest  promoter  of  philosophic  "  Learning,"  that  "  The  Advance- 
ment" thereof  was  the  spontaneous  title  given  to  his  greatest  work. 
Bacon  was  also  author  of  the  saying  that  "  Antiquity  was  the  youth 
of  the  world ;"  a  maxim  afterward  cordially  adopted  and  learnedly 
illustrated  by  Dr.  Price,  the  fiiend  and  correspondent  of  Turgot. 
To  adopt  imagery  like  that  used  by  the  great  founder  of  the 
inductive  method,  if  we  hear  little  else  than  a  dissonant  screeching 
of  multitudinous  noises  now,  which  only  blend  in  the  distance  into 
a  roar  Hke  that  of  the  raging  sea,  it  behooves  us  to  hold  fast  to  the 
assurance  that  this  is  the  necessary  process  whereby  the  instru- 
ments are  to  be  tuned  for  the  heavenly  concert.  Chaos  is  under- 
going a  pei'petual  curtailment  of  his  empire,  and  eventually  must 
be  cast  out  of  the  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  world,  as  entirely 
as  out  of  the  material. 

The  epoch  of  Anglo  colonization  in  America  was  one  of  philosoph-' 
ical  ti'ansition  in  Europe.  Antiquated  systems  were  decomposed  in 
the  old  world,  and  another  order,  as  auspicious  as  it  was  youthful, 
was  constructed  in  the  new.  Such  was  the  use  which  Providence 
made  of  that  Cerberus  of  rationalism,  Voltaire,  whose  school 
brought  the  doctiine  of  Spinoza,  Hobbes,  and  Bayle  to  a  stop  at 
deism,  on  the  ruins  of  the  prevailing  religious  system.  The  mate- 
rialism of  Locke  easily  degenerated  into  the  dogmas  of  Helvetius, 
according  to  whom  there  is  no  mind  extant,  for  matter  is  every 
thing,  and  who  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  age  that  selfish- 
ness, vanity,  and  gross  enjoyments  are  the  only  true  guides  and 
rational  ends  of  enlightened  men;  in  fact,  the  only  realities  of 
human  life.  Thus,  the  way  was  fully  prepared  for  the  congenial 
spirit  of  Diderot  boldly  to  proclaim  the  wish — "  that  the  last  king 
might  be  burned  on  a  funeral  pile,  composed  of  the  body  of  the  last 
priest." 


PHILOSOPHY. 


413 


Despairing  of  free  thought  and  wholesome  progress  on  the 
ancient  fields  of  human  development,  the  most  aspiiing  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  philosophic  world  followed  the  mild  splendors  of  the 
retiring  sun,  and  laid  their  visions  of  a  better  destiny  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Ameiica.  Among  those  whose  fond  expectations  were 
thither  turned,  even  down  to  our  own  day,  were  Rousseau,  Ber- 
nardin  de  St.  Pierre,  and  Chateaubriand.  But  a  greater  and  better 
philosopher  than  they,  though  equally  imaginative,  at  an  earlier 
period,  came  personally  to  our  stormiest  coast,  and  thereon  planted 
the  first  elements  of  a  lofty  culture.  George  Berkeley  left  rich 
worldly  emoluments  on  the  western  extremity  of  the  old  world,  and 
voluntarily  bore  the  quintessence  of  all  its  dialectical  skill  to  enrich 
the  eastern  extremity  of  the  new.  From  that  day  to  this,  the 
region  of  the  primary  fountain  has  ever  remained  the  chief  source 
of  philosophical  worth.  Francis  Wayland  yet  lives  a  near  neighbor 
to  Berkeley's  retreat  in  Rhode  Island,  and  is  not  remoter  from  "  the 
minute  philosopher"  in  time  than  in  his  ethical  system ;  but  it  was 
reserved  for  our  great  countryman  to  give  America  and  the  world 
a  fitting  climax  to  all  preceding  disquisitions  in  "  Moral  Science." 
Modern  writers  have  differed  much  concerning  the  foundation  or 
obligation  of  virtue.  Hobbes  placed  it  in  pohtical  enactment; 
Mandeville,  in  the  love  of  praise ;  Dr.  Clarke,  in  the  fitness  of 
things ;  Adam  Smith,  in  sympathy  for  our  race  ;  Grotius  and  Puf- 
fendorf,  in  the  duty  of  improvement ;  Hume  and  Paley,  in  personal 
utility;  while  Hutcheson,  Cudwortb,  Butler,  Reid,  Stuart,  and 
others,  derive  it  from  a  moral  sense  or  natural  impulse  to  do  right, 
implanted  by  tlie  Creator.  Repeated  editions  of  the  Moral  Philos- 
ophy based  on  conscience,  and  other  kindred  w^orks,  first  used  in 
-Brown  University,  and  now  adopted  as  hand-books  in  many  educa- 
tional establishments  in  this  and  other  lands,  attest  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  the  last  and  best  expression  of  progressive  philosophy 
is  held. 

Nothing  goes  back — every  thing  advances.  Philosophy  gained 
in  passing  from  Asia  into  Greece,  from  Athens  to  Rome,  and  thence 
through  the  middle  ages  to  modern  times.  The  advancement 
made  during  the  past  sixty  years  abundantly  indicates  that  the 
grand  goal  which  Berkeley  descried  from  afar,  by  a  Pisgah-view  on 
the  border  of  the  land  he  himself  was  not  permitted  to  penetrate, 


414 


WASHINGTON. 


will  yet  be  triumphantly  attained.  Bom  of  yesterday  on  our  soil, 
an  immense  future  lies  before  the  career  of  philosophic  thought 
toward  the  unbounded  West;  where,  next  to  religion,  the  most 
exalted  sphere  is  reserved  for  thp  indefinite  expansion  of  her  ame- 
liorating spirit.  It  is  the  destiny  of  this  mighty  moral  agent  to 
make  the  tour  of  the  world,  in  following  the  physical  movements 
of  lands  and  peoples,  correspondent  with  the  governing  epochs  we 
have  described.  Having  arrived  at  this  ultimate  centre  of  earth's 
femientation  and  fruitfulness,  philosophy,  with  all  subordinate  ele- 
ments of  civilization,  will  prosecute  the  last  stage  of  her  journey, 
and  return  upon  the  mountains  whence  she  originally  descended, 
permitted  at  last  to  contemplate  thence  a  world  redeemed. 

But,  in  perfecting  the  grand  restoration  of  society,  let  us  first  of 
all  be  convinced  that  time  is  the  primary  instrument  to  be  em- 
ployed, and  that  successive  generations  must  pass  before  the 
nations  are  fully  prepared.  Every  thing  under  the  sway  of  Provi- 
dence is  developed  through  a  progressive  movement,  which  is  con- 
tinued and  regular ;  a  law  whose  application  is  universal,  and  never 
subject  to  a  feilure.  No  violence  can  for  an  instant  hasten  the 
growth  of  a  blade  of  grass,  much  less  can  force  accelerate  the 
march  of  society.  The  impossible  of  to-day  may  become  possible 
to-morrow ;  but  the  movement  must  be  natural,  and  then  will  the 
greatest  speed,  as  well  as  most  enduring  safety,  be  found  in  the 
deepest  and  broadest  current.  It  is  the  manifest  will  of  God  that 
mankind  should  be  concentrated  in  one  uniform  march  of  progres- 
sion, found  only  and  evermore  in  the  development  of  that  liberty 
which  is  essential  to  all  human  beings.  The  cominon  mind  may 
not  be  the  axe  which  hews  the  throne  down  to  a  block,  but  it  is 
the  handle  without  which  the  axe  is  of  little  use.  Before  common' 
rights  come  to  be  a  common  possession,  the  people  may  be  yet 
more  persecuted  and  tormented,  but  they  will  never  be  conquered. 
Every  great  cause  triumphs  only  at  the  expense  of  grand  sacrifices. 
The  highest  liberty  exacts  the  noblest  martyrs,  who  descend  into 
the  dungeon,  or  expire  on  the  cross,  but  their  agony  is  transformed 
into  balm  for  universal  wounds,  and  their  death  brings  life  to  the 
nations  at  large. 

In  all  lands,  and  all  epochs,  the  privileged  classes,  jealous  of  the 
advantages  they  possess,  constitute  themselves  into  a  permanent 


r  II I L  OS 0  p  H  Y.  415 

war  against  the  mass  of  the  people  whom  they  are  ambitious  to 
■disinherit  and  oppress.  Almost  every  page  of  history  furnishes  an 
example.  Greece  was  not  free  from  the  curse  ;  and  at  Rome,  it 
was  exemplified  in  the  conflict  between  the  plebeian  and  patrician 
classes.  In  mediaeval  times,  the  partially  enfranchised  communi- 
ties struggled  against  feudal  arrogance ;  and  in  our  own  day  it  is 
reproduced  in  the  antagonisms  which  characterize  the  struggles  of 
the  conservative  and  progressive  parties.  The  agents  of  evil  love 
darkness  and  resist  light.  They  can  with  comparative  ease  deprive 
men  of  their  rights,  if  they  can  but  prevent  their  knowing  them. 
They  must  be  degraded  intellectually,  in  order  to  be  kept  in  social 
degradation;  hence  tyranny  always  brutahzes  its  victims  as  much 
as  possible,  that  they  may  with  impunity  be  treated  as  brutes. 
When  force  is  allowed  to  begin  the  oppression,  ignorance  is  the 
best  auxiliary  by  which  it  is  perpetuated.  Among  the  many  things 
which  render  despotism  detestable  is  the  absolute  opposition  it  of 
necessity  wages  against  human  nature  and  its  predestined  perfection ; 
in  which  resistance  it  is  obliged  to  repel  light,  augment  gloom,  and 
iight  incessantly  against  truth,  against  goodness,  against  God.  The 
primordial  law  of  humanity  is  perpetually  to  know  more,  love  more, 
and  concur  with  a  constantly  increased  efficiency  in  the  universal 
realization  of  the  progressively  diviuQ  plan. 

As  civilized  society  is  the  daughter  of  knowledge  and  freedom, 
nothing  can  be  respected,  Vv^hich  does  not  harmonize  with  this  dou- 
ble source  of  her  mission.  It  is  not  upon  force  that  we  subsist,  but 
by  a  superiority  produced  through  veneration,  and  that  obedience 
which  is  the  spontaneous  submission  of  one  will  to  another.  It  is 
the  mutual  action  of  mind  identical  in  purpose.  When  the  Spar- 
tans proposed  in  their  hearts  to  die  for  the  salvation  of  Greece,  they 
inscribed  this  appeal  on  the  rocky  pass  at  Thermopylae  : — "  Traveler, 
go  tell  th^  Lacedemonians  that  we  fell  here  in  obedience  to  their 
sacred  laws."  This  was  not  the  submission  peculiar  to  a  few 
heroes,  but  was  demanded  for  the  salvation  of  a  whole  people  ;  it 
was  the  voice  of  a  whole  people,  living  as  well  as  dead,  and  there  was 
not  a  soul  in  the  republic  which  would  not  have  responded  to  the 
«oul  of  the  three  hundred. 

As  bishop  Butler  suggested,  nations  may  get  mad  as  well  as  in- 
dividuals, but  in  their  wildest  frenzy  thev  usually  produce  works  and 


416 


WASHINGTON. 


speak  words  superior  to  any  thing  attained  by  their  predecessors. 
The  most  authentic  and  binding  record  asserts  that  "  God  hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  who  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth ;"  and  the  obdurate  who  dare  not  or  will  not  believe  this 
truth  may  find  it  verified  when  all  their  gushing  veins  mingle  in  a 
common  retribution.  The  great  Father  never  formed  the  limbs  of 
his  children  to  be  chafed  with  fetters,  nor  their  faculties  to  wither 
in  gloom.  Action  that  is  enforced  regardless  of  freedom,  is  like 
the  relation  of  a  brute  to  the  fierce  rider  upon  his  back,  or  the  tin- 
gle of  a  lash  to  the  skin  of  a  slave.  For  all  such,  the  lowliest  as 
well  as  the  loftiest,  was  vouchsafed  the  intellectual  sun  which  illu- 
mines every  man  who  comes  into  the  world.  It  will  never  descend 
beneath  the  horizon,  neither  can  any  clouds  long  obscure  it,  but 
augment  its  efi'ulgence  rather.  In  the  accumulated  heritage  which 
each  generation  gathers  from  its  precursors,  nothing  is  accepted 
that  has  not  life.  For  this  reason,  the  progress  of  society  is  con- 
tinual, however  slow  sometimes ;  and  this  progress,  which  compri- 
ses all  the  conquests  made  by  man  through  the  principal  branches 
of  ameliorating  civilization,  is  in  fact  a  succession  of  triumphs  over 
ignorance,  and  will  end  not  merely  in  the  gain  of  a  battle  but  in 
the  complete  success  of  the  war. 

Revolutions  are  the  sudden  explosions  of  slowly  aggregated  facts, 
often  brought  about  by  some  particular  occasion,  but  seldom  or 
never  premeditated  by  any  one  man,  system,  or  party.  They  re- 
sult from  a  general  and  spontaneous  feeling  that  liberty  is  not  less 
necessary  to  the  moral,  than  to  the  political,  perfection  of  a  people. 

Hence  the  prodigious  shock  that  was  given  to  the  world,  when 
the  colossus  of  American  independence,  rending  from  his  limbs  the 
chains  imposed  by  monarchical  power,  stood  erect  in  the  full  posses- 
sion of  inalienable  rights,  and  went  forth  to  emancipate  mankind. 
As  heterogeneous  metals  dissolve  and  amalgamate  anew  in  the 
white  heat  of  a  furnace,  so  under  the  burning  breath  of  colonial 
eloquence  all  the  settlements  of  the  Atlantic  coast  blended  in  the 
aspirations  of  one  spirit,  and  contended  for  civil  and  religious  free- 
dom as  a  common  boon.  The  great  hero  whose  name  it  is  one  of 
the  numerous  glories  of  the  present  age  to  bear,  was  the  visible 
destiny  of  his  day,  and  invincible  in  his  genius,  like  the  new  ideas  - 
of  which  he  was  the  champion. 


PHILOSOPHY. 


417 


Washington  established  firmly  and  forever  that  principle  of  rep- 
resentation, which  is  the  political  glory  of  the  Teutonic  race  ;  and 
which  was  destined,  under  the  brilliant  skies  of  this  newly  discov- 
ered continent,  to  create  and  control  a  republican  confederacy, 
outrunning  all  preceding  empires,  and,  unlike  them,  not  founded  in 
the  subjection  of  particular  classes,  but  on  the  enjoyment  of  equal 
and  universal  rights.  The  structure  of  nature,  and  the  conquests 
of  truth  together  indicate  the  direction  and  accelerated  surety  with 
which  this  sublime  purpose  is  becoming  realized.  All  the  historic 
lands  of  antiquity,  massed  in  a  huge  group  of  continents,  barely 
extend  through  similar  climatic  zones ;  while  America  alone  tra- 
verses every  clime  of  earth,  abounds  in  every  variety  of  natural 
phenomena,  and  is  most  profuse  in  all  sorts  of  valuable  produc- 
tions. The  plains  of  the  Amazon  and  of  the  Mississippi,  compared 
with  those  of  Siberia  and  Sahara,  show  the  natural  contrast  and 
indicate  the  divine  design.  God  has  made  the  southern  extremities 
of  the  two  hemispheres  little,  pointed,  and  barren,  while  they  grow 
broader  toward  the  north,  and  teem  most  abundantly  with  mate- 
rial and  mental  wealth  in  the  west. 

As  we  have  shown  in  respect  to  the  occidental  advancement  of 
other  civilizing  elements,  it  was  appropriate  that  the  first  fountain 
of  philosophic  wisdom  among  us  should  be  opened  in  the  oriental 
metropolis  of  New  England,  and  that  all  modifying  theories  for  a 
while  should  thence  be  derived.  That  wise  people,  like  their 
fathers,  until  recently  seemed  content  with  the  metaphysics  of  the 
sensations,  and  were  accustomed  to  assume  for  fundamental  princi- 
ples, as  a  primary  basis,  truths  obtained  only  through  the  judgment, 
by  means  of  the  observation  of  external  phenomena.  But  philos- 
ophers have  happily  receded  from  that  narrow  view,  and  are 
beginning  to  perceive  that  this  species  of  insight  never  ascends  to 
the  supreme  order  of  truth  necessary  and  absolute.  They  are  in 
fact  only  conclusions  deduced  from  sensation,  and  are  capable  of 
being  or  not  being,  according  as  the  exterior  objects  are  presented 
under  one  aspect  or  another.  But  the  generic  and  immutable  princi- 
ples of  freedom,  art,  science,  and  morals,  in  no  sense  find  their  source 
in  the  deductions  drawn  from  external  objects  and  attributes ;  they 
rest  entirely  on  those  primitive  and  necessary  ideas  which  form  part 
of  the  soul,  and  originate  anterior  to  all  reflection  or  comparison, 

18* 


418 


WASHINGTON. 


This  more  spiritual  pliilosophy  spreads  luminously  with  expanding 
day,  and  promises  to  be  perfected  near  the  meridian  of  high  noon. 
As  communications  become  fticile,  rapid,  and  extensive  among  men, 
isolated  causes  decrease  in  influence  and  philosophic  truths  are  rap- 
idly fortified.  Individual  action  is  less  perceived,  while  the  masses 
swell  and  rise  in  importance.  Opinions,  like  the  sea,  become  clear 
and  constant  in  proportion  to  their  depth  and  free  action.  In  no  age 
or  condition  has  human  nature  ever  disinherited  the  faculties  origi- 
nally given  for  justice,  veracity,  beauty,  humanity  and  religion  ;  it 
never  acts  legitimately  without  cultivating  these,  by  repelHng  the 
passions  and  obstacles  opposed  to  their  growth. 

The  number  of  original  thinkers  constantly  increases,  and  it  is 
this  progress  which  mortifies  presumption,  while  it  justifies  hope. 
Philosophy  does  not  dampen  literary  enthusiasm,  nor  clip  the  wings 
of  divine  art,  but  follows  in  their  flight,  and  measures  both  their 
object  and  powers.  It  is  the  history  of  this  mastership  in  the 
realms  of  intellect  which  affords  the  light  by  which  alone  we  can 
know  and  comprehend  all  other  histories ;  while  its  generahzation 
contains  not  merely  the  most  important  truths,  but  all  that  can 
be  strictly  called  truth.  War  may  sometimes  be  ineWtable,  and 
is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  evil,  since  it  conduces  to  that 
succession  of  ideas  which  ministers  to  the  perfection  of  human  na- 
ture. Each  victorious  age  endures  for  a  time,  and  then  passes 
away,  to  give  place  .to  a  mightier  and  a  better ;  but  humanity  is 
superior  to  all  epochs,  outlives  all,  and  is  benefited  by  them.  That 
society  is  already  fatally  sick  which,  instead  of  anticipating  in  the 
future  an  improved  succession  of  the  present,  only  fears  its  destruc- 
tion. Under  the  direction  of  Providence,  great  revolutions  are 
more  and  better  than  the  mere  shifting  of  scenery  on  a  stage  ;  not 
only  do  they  give  an  electric  shock  to  the  spectators,  and  quicken 
their  intellectual  energies  for  the  hour,  but  they  also  effect  substan- 
tial good  by  creating  an  enduring  change.  But  fortunately  the 
chief  battles  of  our  age  are  moral  rather  than  martial.  A  spiritual 
music  prevails  over  the  wildest  tempests,  crpng  Peace.  Reason 
carries  a  white  flag  which  she  will  plant  on  the  central  mountains 
of  America,  and  bid  it  wave  on  free  breezes  as  the  banner  and 
blessing  of  the  world. 

Popular  education  renders  a  people  morally  incapable  of  adopt- 


PHILOSOPHY. 


419 


\r\g  any  other  than  republican  institutions.  The  qualities  which 
belong  to  high  culture,  and  which  may  be  dangerous  when  confined 
to  a  few,  are  of  unspeakable  advantage  when  dispersed  among  the 
many.  Demagogues  ai'e  disarmed,  when  constituents  are  enlight- 
ened. The  tendency,  in  every  thing  connected  with  the  knowledge 
or  interests  of  man  in  our  country  and  age,  is  to  derive  light  from 
every  quarter,  in  one  consistent  and  comprehensive  scheme  of 
thought.  The  literature  and  philosophy  of  the  age  now  transpiring 
superabound  in  vast  materials  for  progress,  accumulated  in  all  past 
time,  and  w^hich  render  it  probable  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  an 
intellectual  transition,  similar  to  that  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
but  on  a  vastly  higher  and  broader  scale.  Never  was  there  a  com- 
bination of  all  human  knowledge  in  a  more  complete  and  systematic 
form ;  nor  has  any  preceding  epoch  been  so  remarkable  for  the 
manner  in  which  it  has  contributed  to  investigate,  define,  and 
establish  the  principles  of  philosophy  as  a  science.  And  it  is  our 
joy  that  the  "  finality"  is  not  yet  reached.  Every  to-day  announces 
some  new  victory,  which  is  the  sure  forerunner  of  a  better  achieve- 
ment to-morrow.  It  was  once  said  to  the  great  Napoleon,  "  Sire, 
your  son  must  be  brought  up  with  the  utmost  care,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  replace  you."  "  Replace  me  !"  he  replied  :  "  I  could  not 
replace  myself;  I  am  the  child  of  circumstances."  He  felt  that 
the  power  lent  him  was  for  a  given  purpose,  up  to  an  hour  which 
he  could  neither  hasten  nor  retard,  and  that  when  his  mission  was 
accomj^lished  it  could  never  be  repeated.  When  a  social  trans- 
formation has  become  necessary,  vitality  abandons  the  superseded 
and  transports  itself  into  a  new  vehicle  of  progress,  augmenting 
and  fortifying  that  which  is  already  a  felt  need,  and  openly  de- 
manded by  the  enlarged  wants  of  a  more  advanced  age.  A  higher 
sagacity  requires  then  that  we  disregard  the  inferior  ofishoots  of  a 
past  growth,  and  aj^ply  ourselves  only  to  second  the  perfect  devel- 
opment of  that  indestructible  germ  whose  true  worth  is  seen  only 
in  its  matured  fruit.  To  restrain  the  future  by  the  past,  is  to  mingle 
death  with  life ;  it  is  to  violate  all  the  laws  of  nature,  and  conse- 
quently to  create  social  misery  just  so  far  as  mankind  are  thus 
diverted  from  their  legitimate  career.  If  we  transpose  the  order 
of  Providence  a  moment,  and  place  the  highest  perfection  in  antiq- 
uity the  most  remote,  or  allow  that  a  greater  good  lies  behind  the 


420 


WASHINGTON. 


present  hour,  all  philosophical  laws  are  instantly  inverted,  and  we 
can  arrive  at  nothing  but  chaos  to  support  a  supposition  so  absurd. 

AVhen  Camillus  besieged  the  city  of  Falerii,  a  schoolmaster 
offered  to  betray  the  children  of  the  people  into  his  hands,  and 
secure  for  him  the  conquest  of  the  city ;  and  the  magnanimous 
Roman  caused  the  miscreant  to  be  scourged  to  his  dwelling  by  the 
children  he  sought  to  betray.  Thank  God,  that  is  the  spirit  of  our 
own  Great  West !  Earth  never  bore  such  mighty  billows  of  patri- 
otic intelligence  as  are  now  bounding  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  shores.  It  is  on  this  immense  area,  and  with  enhanced 
glories  near  the  now  wilder  regions,  that  the  grandest  humanitary 
work  of  philosophic  amelioration  under  heaven  will  be  performed. 
The  hardy  pioneer,  free  as  the  air  he  breathes,  and  fervid  as  the 
flames  he  kindles  to  enlarge  and  render  fruitful  the  precincts  of  a 
happy  home,  feels  that  a  vast  difference  exists  between  himself  and 
irrational  creatures.  The  progress  of  a  brute,  purely  individual 
and  limited  within  fixed  bounds,  never  extends  to  its  species,  they 
being  immutably  stationary ;  while  the  human  race,  hke  the  in- 
dividual, perfects  itself  by  a  continuous  development.  In  this 
august  privilege  man  has  opened  before  him  a  career  as  vast  as  the 
duration  of  time,  and  beyond  tliat  is  presented  the  fullness  of  that 
great  end  he  was  created  to  attain.  Whenever  human  society 
arrives  at  a  condition  wherein  it  can  not  perfect  its  progress,  it  must 
dissolve,  in  order  to  renew  and  establish  a  fi'esh  and  firm  founda- 
tion which  no  longer  reposes  on  the  past.  But  no  dissolution 
between  the  earlier  members  of  our  confederacy  is  possible  in  the 
presence  of  the  great  conservative  energies  latent  in  the  newer 
States.  Their  numerical  preponderance  is  one  guaranty  of  national 
perpetuity,  but  their  superior  love  of  untrammeled  thought  is  the 
greatest  and  best.  It  is  in  the  far  West  that  mental  heroes  will 
arise,  who,  from  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  history,  will  elaborate 
the  thread  which  is  needful  to  conduct  us  through  the  labyrinth  of 
revolutions,  systems,  and  schools.  Borne  on  the  wings  of  divine 
inspiration,  they  will  hover  above  all  the  peculiarities  of  eras  or 
sects,  to  comprise  in  one  all  harmonizing  generalization,  not  the 
actual  merely,  but  the  possible  also,  and  the  manifestly  designed, 
which  embraces  in  one  vast  idea,  God,  man,  the  universe,  and  uni- 
versal amelioration. 


PHILOSOPHY. 


421 


We  have  said  above  that  time  is  the  first  great  requisite  in  exe- 
cuting the  high  behests  of  humanity.  Let  it  here  be  added  that 
the  intervention  of  civil  power,  or  arbitrary  constraint  in  any  form, 
so  far  from  expediting  human  improvement,  will  retard  it  indefi- 
nitely. No  reform  is  real  and  enduring,  save  as  it  is  the  fruit  of 
profound  persuasion.  It  works  a  change,  not  in  the  relations  of 
things,  but  in  the  conditions  of  intelligence.  Above  the  ruins  of 
obsolete  civilization,  then,  let  us  elevate  the  sacred  flambeau  of  im- 
mortal truth  so  high,  that  it  may  shine  upon  all  eyes,  and  diff'use 
its  effulgence  through  the  mists  of  error  everywhere,  to  reclaim 
wanderers  from  their  deceptive  paths.  This  noble  and  pacific  con- 
quest through  the  agency  of  divine  philosophy,  will,  step  by  step, 
cause  all  nations  to  assume  the  places  assigned  them  by  the  Cre- 
ator, in  the  most  perfect  of  cities,  under  the  most  perfect  laws.  The 
exalted  enterprise,  committed  by  Jehovah  to  those  of  his  people 
who  possess  the  richest  harvest  of  his  gifts,  accumulated  for  our 
use  in  the  instrumental  salvation  of  our  race,  will  gather  from  the 
extremes  of  vassalage  and  ignorance  a  sublime  unity,  at  once  the 
source  and  perfection  of  that  wisest  freedom  which  is  realized  in  the 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

Every  emancipation  that  is  reasonable,  and  therefore  enduring, 
implies  the  previous  acquisition  of  mental  illumination  and  moral 
force  sufficient  to  render  their  possessor  competent  to  enter  the  so- 
ciety of  the  free.  If  this  condition  is  neglected  from  personal  con- 
siderations, and  with  fanatical  intent,  the  premature  enterprise  will 
end  in  the  destruction  of  its  presumptuous  leaders  as  its  first  vic- 
tims. It  is  the  fable  of  Orpheus  or  Prometheus  unhappily  realized. 
The  general  law  of  right  is  eternal  and  unchangeable  ;  the  particu- 
lar claim  to  the  benefit  thereof  must  be  admitted  as  soon  as  there 
is  a  capacity  for  its  exercise.  All  laws,  customs,  and  institutions 
which  array  themselves  against  the  genius  of  progressive  improve- 
ment are  fatal  to  the  people  whose  material  energies  they  petrify, 
and  whose  spiritual  aspirations  they  destroy.  Whatever  in  man 
becomes  actually  stationary,  begins  that  instant  to  decay,  and  the 
charnel-house  presents  the  only  recommendation  such  conservatism 
can  claim.  Races  and  nations  so  circumstanced  speedily  resemble 
those  cities  of  the  desert  whose  dusty  ruins  serve  only  as  the  fright- 
ful lair  of  vermin  the  most  ferocious  and  abject.    It  is  a  great 


422 


WASHINGTON. 


waste  of  cotton  and  sweet  gums  to  embalm  the  dead  on  this  side 
the  globe ;  we  had  much  better  spend  those  and  other  like  com- 
modities in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  living.  It  is  equally  use- 
less to  resist  the  flow  of  waters,  the  budding  of  trees,  and  the 
growth  of  plants  in  unfolding  spring ;  in  the  name  of  winter  to 
protest  against  the  fecundity  of  nature,  while  the  sun  is  ascending, 
and  moist  zephyrs  re-open  in  her  bosom  all  the  sources  of  life. 

The  immense  work  of  universal  regeneration  through  the  agency 
of  righteousness  and  love  has  already  commenced,  and  must  pro- 
ceed. Until  its  complete  triumph,  there  will  be  no  repose,  because 
until  that  consummation,  humanity  can  not  cease  to  suffer.  But 
the  inevitable  day  hastens  on,  when  the  people  will  have  but  one 
will  and  one  action,  as  they  are  actuated  by  one  interest  only,  and 
its  dawn  will  be  the  advent  of  universal  joy.  Let  us  not  fear,  but 
labor  with  cheerful  courage,  since  for  the  attainment  of  an  end  so 
magnificent,  no  exhausting  toil  should  be  denied.  What  better 
employment  for  the  few  days  allotted  us  on  earth  ?  If  sometimes 
we  suffer  lassitude  in  our  repeated  endeavors,  let  us  raise  our  eyes 
with  our  hearts,  and  contemplate  at  once  the  omnipotent  decree 
which  insures  final  success,  and  the  ennobled  generations  who  hail 
their  benefactors  from  afar.  After  long  ages  of  servitude,  be  cer- 
tain that  the  people  will  arise,  brave  and  powerful  to  sweep  away 
the  contracted  boundaries  within  which  they  have  been  so  long 
packed,  and  will  demand  all  those  rights  which  have  been  wrested 
from  them  by  iniquitous  laws.  Then  will  open  a  new  era  to  abused 
humanity,  when  God  will  recognize  and  bless  the  noblest  of  his 
creatures,  man,  for  he  will  then  have  entered  upon  the  way  which 
from  eternity  had  been  assigned.  Equality  and  liberty,  become  for 
the  people  a  sacred  dogma  forever  affirmed  in  the  common  reason 
and  conscience,  will  then  effectively  realize  itself  in  the  comprehen- 
sive social  organizations  and  philosophical  perfection  it  will  spon- 
taneously create. 


CHAPTER  V. 


RELIGION. 

Sacred  literature  constitutes  the  most  vivid  testimony  one  can 
consult  respecting  the  course  of  the  human  mind,  its  phases,  prog- 
ress, eclipses  and  illuminations ;  the  influence  of  moral  systems, 
national  governments,  and  popular  customs ;  the  character  of  diver- 
sified races,  the  knowledge  of  the  past,  and  the  hope  of  the  future. 

The  sensibility  of  pagan  antiquity  was  more  powerfully  impressed 
with  the  perfectibility  latent  in  creation  than  their  intellect  had  the 
ability  to  discriminate,  or  their  conscience  to  realize.  At  the  best 
transition  periods  of  literary  and  scientific  excellence,  in  the  con- 
claves of  their  divinities,  they  represented  each  god  holding  some 
musical  instrument,  thus  denoting  the  exquisite  and  eternal  harmony 
which  pervades  the  universe.  But  true  religion  is  not  the  mere 
enthusiasm  of  science  which  worships  a  great  natural  law,  as  one 
adores  an  element  frozen  into  a  vast  ice-idol ;  it  is  rectified  intel- 
ligence beholding  the  almighty  Father,  palpable  in  the  glorious 
creation  as  it  beams  all  around,  and  sanctified  affection  especially 
exercised  in  devotion  to  the  incarnated,  atoning,  and  interceding 
Son,  through  the  power  and  grace  of  the  eternal  Spirit.  Montesquieu, 
in  his  Soul  of  Law,  has  noticed  the  fact,  that  Christianity,  in  fitting 
us  for  the  felicity  of  the  next  life,  creates  the  chief  happiness  of  this. 
Such  exalted  fruits  are  produced  by  divine  redemption  wherever  its 
influence  is  diff"used.  For  instance,  despite  the  grandeur  of  the 
empire  and  the  viciousness  of  the  chmate,  it  prevented  the  establish- 
ment of  despotism  in  Ethiopia,  and  bore  into  the  midst  of  Africa 
the  legislation  and  refinements  of  Europe.  Instead  of  such  destruc- 
tion as  was  wrought  by  Timour  and  Gengis  Kan,  while  they  de- 
vastated the  cities  and  tribes  of  Asia,  or  the  perpetual  massacres 
executed  by  the  chiefs  of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  victories  of  the 


424 


WASHINGTON. 


Cross  leave  to  conquered  nations  such  grand  donations  as  life, 
liberty,  law,  refinement,  and  a  religion  which  injures  none  but 
blesses  all.  Heavenly  truth  teaches  man  his  duties  by  unfolding 
to  him  his  destiny.  It  does  not  leave  him  unaided  in  secular 
academies,  frigid  universities,  and  pagan  gymnasia,  to  vegetate  in  a 
brutal  ferocity  a  hundred  times  more  venomous  than  the  savage 
state.  Pure  religion  civihzes  its  subjects  by  nourishing  them  with 
truth,  as  well  as  with  bread ;  it  ennobles  them  by  aggrandizing  the 
intellect  and  renovating  the  heart,  thus  imparting  to  the  feeblest 
pupil  formed  in  her  school,  more  lofty  and  substantial  philosophy 
than  can  be  possessed  by  the  most  erudite  worldly  sage.  Its  pro- 
cess is  of  another  sort,  and  directed  to  different  ends  than  those 
contemplated  by  materialists  who  undertake  to  perfect  the  education 
of  a  people  through  evolutions  rather  than  by  instructions,  placing 
in  their  hands  a  mute  stone  to  facihtate  the  increase  of  transient 
physical  force,  instead  of  inculcating  those  high  lessons  which  to 
the  soul  give  eternal  life. 

The  salvation  of  the  social  world  depends  upon  personal  and 
popular  allegiance  to  Christ,  from  whom  mankind,  as  a  depraved 
race,  are  spiritually  and  politically  detached.  It  is  necessary  by  all 
means,  that  public  institutions  should  be  constructed  on  Christian 
principles,  under  that  divine  guidance  which,  blending  things  tem- 
poral with  things  celestial,  leads  both  to  a  common  centre  and 
explains  how  coincident  are  authority  and  obedience,  while  it  subor- 
dinates force  to  reason,  to  righteousness,  and  the  knowledge  of 
infallible  truth.  Until  this  end  is  attained,  there  can  be  neither 
peace  nor  content;  for  if  the  legislator,  deceived  in  his  design, 
establishes  a  principle  different  from  that  which  is  produced  from 
the  nature  of  things,  the  state  will  not  cease  to  be  agitated  until  it 
is  either  destroyed  or  changed,  and  invincible  justice  reclaims  her 
original  empire.  When  the  use  of  human  faculties  is  controlled, 
but  not  confined,  by  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  which  contain  all 
truth,  by  the  precepts  and  counsels  which  nourish  every  virtue,  it 
tends  incessantly  toward  the  development  of  that  intelligence  and 
those  sentiments  which  constitute  moral  perfection.  It  is  thus  that 
the  heavenly  influence  acts  without  interruption  upon  popular 
literatures,  arts,  sciences,  philosophies,  laws ;  and  this  unfolding  of 
native  capacities,  which  is  never  long  arrested,  forms  the  true  prog- 


i 


RELIGION. 


425 


ress  of  those  civilizing  powers  in  their  potent  relation  to  Christian 
nations.  If  the  divine  preservative  is  withdraw^n  from  a  people, 
they  immediately  sink  into  barbarism,  and  one  everywhere  finds 
profoundly  marked  the  traces  of  that  true  light  which  once  shined, 
though  the  candlestick  be  now  removed.  If  primitive  faith  is 
allowed  to  become  adulterated,  vague  opinions  will  arise  from  the 
bosom  of  doubt  and  indifi'erence,  like  the  sterile  clouds  which  float 
in  a  wintry  sky,  till  night  deepens  and  all  is  obscured. 

Herein  is  a  great  difference  which  distinguished  the  Christian 
religion  from  all  anterior  systems.  In  pagan  antiquity,  the  master 
could,  without  internal  trouble,  possess  his  slave  ;  princes  claimed 
to  belong  to  a  divine  race,  and  the  patrician  felt  that  he  and  his 
plebeian  neighbor  were  born  far  apart.  This  was  revolted  against 
more  than  complained  of,  as  the  benighted  were  actuated  by  natural 
indignation  rather  than  by  conscientious  reason.  But,  under  the 
gospel,  within  the  oppressor,  as  in  the  oppressed,  a  heavenly  voice 
evermore  proclaimed  the  eternal  fact  that  all  are  equal  before  God, 
and  that  justice  is  a  boon  and  bond  for  all.  Despite  this  ennobling 
principle,  this  sanctification  of  the  human  conscience,  however,  the 
advancement  of  mankind  remained  subordinate  to  the  same  rules.  It 
was  ever  requisite  that  successive  emancipations  should  be  preceded 
by  an  adequate  development  of  intelligence,  and  a  corresponding 
elevation  of  moral  sentiment.  Freedom  is  a  calamitous  conquest  to 
one  not  fitted  to  enjoy  it.  But  under  the  instruction  of  the  gospel, 
and  by  virtue  of  its  power,  the  slave,  the  imbecile,  the  mendicant, 
and  alien,  become  equals  and  brothers  in  common  with  the  master 
and  citizen,  however  unbounded  may  be  his  wealth  and  extensive 
his  power.  It  is  the  second  moral  creation  of  humanity.  The  natural 
conscience  thereby  receives,  as  incontestable  axioms,  laws  and 
obligations  which  in  all  preceding  experience  it  never  discovered  in 
itself.  It  is  meant  by  this  that  the  application  of  these  laws  may 
become  both  easy  and  certain.  The  oflSce  of  the  Gospel  is  not  to 
found  a  state  or  impart  a  code.  It  is  addressed  to  man,  whom  it  leaves 
in  the  exercise  of  free  will.  The  light  which  each  one  brings  upon 
earth,  by  the  celestial  message  becomes  more  brilliant  and  divine ; 
but  it  is,  and  ever  must  be,  more  or  less  obscured  by  ignorance  and 
perverted  by  passion.  Absolute  fraternity  and  immaculate  charity 
we  should  not  expect  to  become  the  law  of  the  state ;  they  would 


42G 


WASHINGTON. 


then  cease  to  be  virtues.  Our  duty  and  perfection  consist  in  causing 
tliem  to  control  and  diminish  our  imperfections.  But  in  proportion 
as  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  is  comprehensively  exemplified,  and 
obedience  to  its  requirements  is  complete,  earth,  purified  from  dis- 
order, becomes  the  image  of  heaven,  and  is  the  sojourn  of  peace, 
innocence,  and  holy  joy.  The  true  happiness  of  man  and  the 
healthful  tranquillity  of  states  can  be  established  and  preserved  only 
by  the  sacred  worship  of  that  religion  which,  in  the  energetic  language 
of  Tertullian,  is  "  a  second  royalty."  The  same  principle  which 
places  order  in  society  by  creating  social  power,  gives  order  to  the 
family  by  constituting  domestic  power.  The  two  powers  resemble 
each  other,  because  the  family  is  society  on  a  small  scale ;  they  are 
unequal,  since  society  at  large  is  a  grand  family  wherein  all  indi- 
viduals are  a  homogeneous  aggregate.  But  both  alike  emanate  from 
the  power  of  God  from  whose  authority  alone  all  fraternity  is  de- 
rived (Eph.  iii.  14,  15).  In  the  same  manner,  then,  as  the  paternal 
government  is  identical  with  social  power  in  the  family,  social 
power  is  the  paternal  government  of  general  society :  it  is  herein 
that  we  may  find  a  reason  for  the  immortality  of  power,  and  per- 
ceive why  it  is  that  the  religion  of  J esus  Christ,  being  the  container 
and  communicator  of  all  excellence,  is  the  wisest  and  most  beneficent 
civilizer  on  earth.  Jurists  and  statesmen  are  beginning  to  acknowl- 
edge that  all  legitimate  legislation  comes  from  God,  the  Father  of 
all  just  law,  and  that  our  multifarious  libraries  of  conflicting  and 
impotent  statutes,  born  only  of  man,  resemble  a  vast  hospital  of 
infant  foundlings.  A  piece  of  inscribed  paper,  called  a  constitution, 
can  never  long  exist  and  be  of  value,  save  as  it  is  the  exponent  of 
intelligence,  sound  morality,  and  spiritual  religion,  together  with 
the  matured  capacity  of  self-government  based  on  these. 

The  word  "  democracy"  was  invented  two  thousand  years  ago, 
but  for  many  centuries  the  thing  itself  did  not  actually  exist.  It 
was  in  the  country  of  the  greatest  of  great  men,  and,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  most  auspicious  of  the  progressive  ages,  the  country  and 
age  of  Washington,  that  real  practical  equality  was  established, 
and  that  mainly  by  the  power  of  reformed  religion.  A  power  was 
then  inaugurated  higher  and  better  than  that  which  ruled  when 
the  Greek  Plato,  Phrygian  ^sop,  and  Roman  Epictetus,  were 
bought  and  sold  as  slaves.    Preceding  nations  and  religions  were 


RELIGION. 


427 


in  due  time  excelled,  and  the  mighty  uccessor,  in  ascending  the 
ne>t  throne  of  imperial  equality,  incorporated  into  herself  all  the 
most  enduring  and  salutary  attributes  which  could  be  deriv^ed  from 
past  civilizations,  upon  which  a  better  progress,  under  these  brighter 
skies,  has  so  happily  supervened. 

For  the  preparation  of  a  race  for  such  a  destiny  as  is  here  en- 
joyed, it  was  necessary  that  they  should  at  the  outset  burst  those 
chains  of  political  and  ecclesiastical  despotism,  which  priestcraft 
had  forged  and  fastened  around  the  human  soul ;  and  how  nobly 
did  the  first  colonists  perform  this  duty  !  Bruce  and  Wallace  at 
the  head  of  the  Covenanters,  in  Scotland ;  Cromwell  and  Milton, 
Hampden  and  the  Puritans,  in  England  ;  Washington  and  the  war 
of  American  independence  constituted  one  continued  struggle  for 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  Those  fierce  and  fiery  furnaces  through 
which  this  selectest  race  fearlessly  passed,  v/ere  intended  to  purify 
and  qualify  them  for  the  work  of  the  latter  days ;  and  the  result 
is,  that  at  this  moment  they  are  emancipated,  and  ready  to  con- 
tinue the  functions  of  their  Heaven-appointed  office.  The  Bacons, 
Hookers,  Miltons,  Souths,  Baxters,  Howes,  Taylors,  and  Owens,  of 
the  mother  country,  contributed  the  full  aggregate  of  their  best 
wisdom  to  enrich  the  commencement  of  our  theology,  and  are  not 
wanting  in  worthy  representatives  and  improved  disciples  among 
us  at  the  present  day.  Without  losing  their  depth,  our  age  greatly 
excels  theirs  in  breadth ;  and  if  the  few  are  less  erudite,  the  masses 
ai'e  infinitely  more  enlightened.  Diff"usion,  expansion,  universahty, 
is  the  great  principle  of  American  knowledge ;  and  it  is  this  which 
distino'uishes  us  above  all  other  lands. 

Locke  is  sometimes  represented  as  the  first  who  asserted  the 
doctrines  of  religious  freedom ;  but  several  preceding  authors  had 
expressed  substantially  the  same  views.  Such  in  particular  were 
Sir  Thomas  More  in  his  Utopia ;  some  of  the  earlier  Independents, 
or  Brownists ;  the  incomparable  Cud  worth  ;  Jeremy  Taylor  in  his 
Liberty  of  Prophesying,  published  in  164*7 ;  Dr.  John  Owen  in  a 
piece  on  Toleration,  annexed  to  his  Discourse  before  Parliament 
the  day  after  the  execution  of  Charles  the  First ;  and  Milton  in  his 
Treatise  of  Civil  Power  in  Ecclesiastical  Causes.  But  these  left  the 
work  veiy  incomplete.  The  mediaeval  period  had  been  a  progress, 
but  it  became  an  impediment  not  easily  displaced  on  the  stage  of 


428 


WASHINGTON. 


its  last  and  most  formidable  advancement.  The  English  revolution 
was  the  grand  event  which  terminated  the  seventeenth  century, 
that  heir  of  all  foregoing  epochs,  and  which  superseded  them  with 
a  divine  commission  to  finish  their  imperfect  endeavors.  The  two 
revolutions  which  arose  in  its  bosom  to  close  the  historical  career 
of  the  middle  age,  were  only  partial  and  incomplete.  Both  move- 
ments, the  political  and  the  religious,  were  local  and,  therefore, 
limited,  because  their  principle  lacked  generality.  But  the  Ameri- 
can revolution  opportunely  broke  forth  to  universalize  the  ameliorat- 
ing germs  which  anterior  institutions  had  conserved,  so  that  their 
unchecked  growth,  and  boundless  propagation,  became  possible 
everywhere.  The  age  of  Leo  X.  then  succumbed,  and  the  age  of 
Washington  became  the  dawn  of  supreme  freedom  for  the  best 
good  of  universal  man. 

The  prophet  Ezekiel  prefaces  his  predictions  with  a  striking  de- 
lineation of  human  progress  under  divine  guidance.  A  w^hirlwind 
and  a  cloud  appear  in  the  north,  illumined  with  a  brightness  as  of 
fire,  out  of  which  appears  the  likeness  of  four  living  creatures; 
each  has  four  faces,  four  wings,  and  hands  under  their  wings ;  and 
the  faces  are  severally  like  those  of  a  man,  of  a  lion,  of  an  ox,  and 
an  eagle.  Their  wings  are  raised  and  joined  one  to  another,  and 
when  they  moved  it  was  "  straight  forward,"  and  they  turn  not  as 
thoy  go.  By  the  side  of  these  was  a  sphere,  composed  of  a 
"  wheel  within  a  wheel,"  which  also  had  four  faces,  was  connected 
with  the  living  creatures,  and  moved  in  perfect  harmony  with 
them ;  was  full  of  eyes,  and  its  operations,  though  endlessly  diver- 
sified, were  harmonious  in  action,  and  one  in  purpose,  for  all  were 
guided  by  one  great,  controlling  Agent.  The  wheels  had  a  perpet- 
ually onward  movement,  and  so  immense  were  they  in  circumfer- 
ence, that  their  "  height  was  dreadful."  And  such  is  the  providence 
of  God,  a  scheme  for  executing  destinies  high  as  heaven,  and  en- 
during as  eternity,  vast  in  conception,  sublime  in  results,  and,  like 
their  Author,  omnipresent,  omniscient,  and  omnipotent.  Another 
apt  and  beautiful  emblem  of  the  same  sovereign  disposal  closes  the 
sacred  writings.  As  mediatorial  King,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
unrolls  the  mysterious  scroll,  radiant  with  the  eternal  purposes  of 
Jehovah,  the  controlling  of  all  events,  and  the  overruling  of  vicis- 
situdes and  revolutions  of  human  affairs.  As  Matthew  was  symbol- 


RELIGION. 


429 


ized  by  the  man,  Mark  by  the  lion,  and  Luke  by  the  ox,  so  he  wlio 
was  most  intimate  with  the  earthly  presence  of  the  Messiah,  and 
who  was  elected  to  portray  the  final  unfolding  of  the  mighty  re- 
demption, bore  the  eagle  as  indicative  of  his  inspiration,  and  the 
foretokener  of  final  supremacy.  That  bird  of  power  has  lighted 
on  the  banner  of  our  Union,  and  with  it  will  sail  with  supreme  do- 
minion in  the  highest  azure,  till  all  glorious  predictions  are  ful- 
fiUed. 

Observe  in  what  a  remarkable  manner  the  whole  of  Noilh 
America  was  transferred  into  Protestant  hands.  New  England 
early  became  an  object  of  desire  with  France,  and  nothing  seemed 
more  probable  at  one  time  than  that  she  would  be  the  sole  pos- 
sessor thereof.  Bancroft  records  how,  in  1605,  De  Mont  "  explored 
and  claimed  for  France  the  rivers,  the  coasts,  and  bays  of  New 
England.  But  the  decree  had  gone  out  that  the  beast  of  Rome 
should  never  pollute  this  land  of  promise,  and  it  could  not  be 
revoked.  The  hostile  savages  first  prevented  their  settlement ;  yet 
they  yield  not  their  purpose.  Thrice  in  the  following  year  was  the 
attempt  renewed,  and  twice  were  they  driven  back  by  adverse 
winds,  and  the  third  time  wrecked  at  sea.  Again  did  Pourtrin- 
court  attempt  the  same  enterprise,  but  was,  in  like  manner,  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  project.  It  was  not  so  written.  This  was 
the  land  of  promise  which  God  would  give  to  the  people  of  his  own 
choice.  Hither  he  would  transplant  the  'vine'  which  he  had 
brought  out  of  Egypt.  Here  it  should  take  root,  and  send  out  its 
boughs  into  the  sea,  and  its  branches  unto  the  river."  At  a  still 
later  period,  a  French  armament  of  forty  ships  of  war  sailed  from 
Chebucto,  in  Nova  Scotia,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  nursery 
of  that  Puritanism  which  was  destined  to  pervade  this  New  World. 
News  of  the  attempt  occasioned  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  to  be 
observed  in  all  the  churches.  While  Mr.  Prince  was  oflSciating  in  Old 
South  Church,  Boston,  on  this  occasion,  and  praying  most  fervently 
that  the  dreaded  calamity  might  be  averted,  a  sudden  gust  of  wind 
arose  (the  day  till  then  had  been  perfectly  clear)  so  violently  as  to 
cause  the  clattering  of  the  windows.  That  was  the  waft  of  a  tem- 
pest at  sea,  in  which  the  greater  part  of  the  French  fleet  was 
wrecked.  The  duke  and  his  principal  general  committed  suicide, 
many  of  the  subordinates  died  with  disease,  and  thousands  were 


430 


WASHINGTON. 


drowned.  A  small  remnant  returned  to  France  utterly  confounded, 
and  the  enterprise  of  resisting  Providence  in  this  direction  was 
abandoned  forever.  Malignity  was  rebuked,  as  the  heathen  had 
previously  been  driven  out.  A  pestilence  raged  just  before  the 
arrival  of  the  pilgrims,  which  swept  off  vast  numbers  of  the  In- 
dians, and  the  newly  arrived  pioneers  of  universal  cultivation  were 
preserved  from  absolute  starvation  by  the  very  corn  which  savages 
had  buried  for  their  winter's  provisions.  Moreover,  it  should  be 
here  remarked  that  Lord  Lenox  and  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham 
were  not  permitted  to  succeed  in  establishing  the  colony  which 
they  attempted  at  New  Plymouth.  The  hierarchy  of  England,  as 
well  as  that  of  Rome,  were  foiled  before  the  Independents  had 
arrived,  to  whom  the  Court  of  Heaven  had  given  the  chief  sway 
over  this  mighty  empire  of  the  prospective  church.  The  historian 
of  those  times  well  observes :  "  Had  New  England  been  colonized 
immediately  on  the  discovery  of  the  American  continent,  the  old 
English  institutions  would  have  been  planted  under  the  powerful 
influence  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  Had  the  settlement 
been  made  under  Elizabeth,  it  would  have  been  before  the  acti\ity 
of  the  popular  mind  in  religion  had  conducted  to  a  corresponding 
activity  of  mind  in  politics.  The  Pilgrims  were  Englishmen,  Prot- 
estants, exiles  for  religion,  men  disciplined  by  misfortune,  cultiva- 
ted by  opportunities  of  extensive  observation,  equal  in  rank  as  in 
right,  and  bound  by  no  code  but  that  which  was  imposed  by  rehg- 
ion,  or  might  be  created  by  the  public  will.  America  opened  as  a 
field  of  adventure  just  at  the  time  when  mind  began  to  assume  its 
independence,  and  religion  its  vitality." 

For  three  centuries,  the  selectest  materials  were  preparing  for 
their  prepared  work.  From  Wyckliffe  proceeded  a  succession  of 
dauntless  advocates  for  the  emancipation  of  the  human  mind  from 
the  power  of  despotism.  The  principles  proclaimed  by  Luther  and 
fortified  by  Calvin,  w^ere  adopted  from  Huss  and  Jerome,  the  pupils 
of  the  oTeat  orijrinal  hero  of  Oxford  and  Lutterworth.  But  as  the 
"  Morning  Star  of  the  Reformation"  arose  in  western  England,  so 
did  the  full  day  dawn  from  a  still  remoter  horizon,  and  Puritanism 
in  eastern  America  was  the  Reformation  reformed.  The  sifted 
wheat  of  the  old  world  sowed  the  prepared  soil  of  the  new,  whereon 
the  best  portion  of  the  best  nation  then  extant,  came  to  reafize  the 


RELIGION. 


431 


fond  expectation  of  Columbus,  concerning  the  continent  he  discov- 
ered, when,  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  his  adventures  west- 
ward were  urged  mainly  "  by  the  hopes  he  cherished  of  extending 
here  the  kingdom  of  Christ."  Independency  was  supreme  from 
the  beginning  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  revolution  hastened  the 
spread  of  democracy  in  religion,  as  in  politics,  throughout  American 
society.  In  those  commonwealths  where  the  aristocratic  principle 
was  still  strong,  as  in  Virginia,  it  was  boldly  assailed  and  com- 
pletely subdued.  Entails  disappeared,  and  the  church  lost  its  offi- 
cial rank  in  the  state.  Men  everyAvhere  began  to  feel  that  they 
must  not  longer  be  Jews  of  the  ancient  bondage  to  law,  but  Chris- 
tians under  the  new.  dispensation  of  grace ;  not  apostles  of  the  past, 
but  prophets  of  the  future. 

All  the  great  theologians  of  the  American  church  have  originated 
near  where  the  first  spiritual  colony  was  planted,  and  have  con- 
stantly spread  their  influence  toward  the  West.  In  this  department 
of  high  thought,  as  in  every  other  professional  walk,  Europe  often 
republishes  original  master-pieces  from  America,  many  of  which 
are  acknowledged  to  be  the  best  ever  produced.  From  New  En- 
gland, too,  has  emanated  every  form  of  "  liberal"  doctrine,  which 
has  modified  primitive  sternness,  and  tended,  perhaps,  to  develop 
more  fully  the  wealth  of  that  gospel  which  is  full  of  grace  and 
truth.  Thus  the  seeds  which  Christianity  has  sown  during  eighteen 
centuries  are  successively  springing  up ;  liberty  to  the  enthralled, 
human  amity,  divine  mercy,  and  equality  to  all.  Its  end  is  to 
spiritualize  man,  to  animate  all  races  toward  the  highest  attain- 
ments, and  cause  the  will  of  God  to  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven.  In  her  mighty  advance  into  the  great"  heart  of  our  land, 
Rehgion  recognizes  and  authenticates  the  right  of  human  souls  to 
outstep  the  limits  of  the  visible  world,  and  to  become  regenerate 
and  refreshed  in  the  ideal  of  eternity. 

The  immense  immigration  to  our  republic  at  the  present  time,  is 
filling  another  notable  page  in  the  providential  history  of  America. 
Had  such  infloodings  of  aliens  occurred  at  any  former  period  of  our 
history,  they  would  probably  have  ruined  us.  This  heterogeneous 
mass  now  amounts  to  half  a  milhon  annually,  and  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  crush  our  free  institutions  in  their  incipient  state.  But 
what  might  overflow  a  sapling,  may  only  refresh  the  growth  and 


432 


WASHINGTON. 


mature  the  strength  of  a  sturdy  oak.  The  power  of  assimilation 
has  happily  become  more  potent  than  the  influence  of  the  most 
copious  immigration.  It  was  to  this  end  that  the  facihtics  for 
oceanic  transit  were  restricted,  till  the  consequences  of  the  greatest 
enlargement  would  not  render  their  use  unsafe.  How  profoundly 
should  we  admire  that  divine  wisdom  which  has  so  graciously  cast 
the  lines  of  our  heritage,  and  measured  out  to  us  the  responsibili- 
ties thereof !  Millions  of  the  papal  world  are  wafted  to  our  shores, 
to  be  enlightened,  elevated,  Christianized,  and  taught  the  preroga- 
tives of  freemen,  to  say  nothing  of  the  three  millions  of  instruments 
placed  in  our  hands  by  unrighteous  bondage,  to  "  sharpen,  polish, 
and  prepare  for  the  subjugation  of  another  continent  to  the  Prince 
of  Peace." 

From  Adam  to  Augustus  transpired  the  great  process  of  prepa- 
ration, incarnation,  and  elementary  diffusion  of  divine  truth.  While 
Japhet  was  proceeding  to  people  more  than  half  the  globe,  his 
progeny,  Greeks,  Romans,  and  English,  successively  advanced  with 
accumulative  efficiency  to  redeem  the  degenerate  descendants  of 
Shem.  At  length  the  predestined  father  of  all  ennobling  civiliza- 
tion, in  the  persons  of  his  selected  children,  took  possession  of  the 
continent  of  America,  and  is  now  executing  his  most  consummate 
work.  To  give  the  latest,  and  therefore  the  best,  Japhetic  elements 
a  fair  opportunity  for  undisturbed  development  here,  God  caused 
the  preceding  stock  in  western  Europe  to  turn  its  commercial  am- 
bition toward  the  East,  where  England  now  wields  the  sceptre  over 
two  hundred  millions  of  the  Shemitic  race.  Simultaneously  with 
the  growth  of  that  gigantic  secular  power  in  British  India,  a  few 
sons  of  New  England,  mighty  in  faith,  conceived  a  still  grander 
enterprise,  and  modern  missions  bore  the  blessed  gospel  to  the  most 
ancient  and  benighted  lands.  Young  Japhet  Christianized  in  repub- 
lican America,  and  marching  with  irresistible  progress  westward 
to  join  senior  members  of  the  civilizing  household  from  the  oppo- 
site point,  according  to  Gen.  ix.  27,  "shall  enlarge  himself,  and  he 
shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem,"  taking  Ham  by  the  way. 

It  is  not  the  aim  of  the  Christian  religion  to  stifle  the  germs  of 
individuality  in  man,  but  rather  to  disenthrall  them  from  the  crush- 
ing burdens  with  which  they  are  overlaid  by  the  lusts  of  the  flesh 
and  the  vanities  of  life ;  as  was  at  the  first  exemplified  in  the  strongly 


RELIGION. 


433 


marked  character  of  Peter  and  James,  John  and  Paul.  Individu- 
als so  freed  and  fortified  ever  constitute  the  chief  agents  of  wise 
amelioration,  and  are  the  foremost  heroes  of  comprehensive  reforms. 
They  are  the  powerful  living  preachers  and  inspiring  writers  who 
are  full  of  the  spirit  of  their  own  age,  and  yearn  to  subordinate  it 
to  the  reign  of  Christ.  They  are  ready  often  to  accept  of  changes, 
and  are  always  able  to  transform  them  into  progress.  Says  the 
writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  That  which  has  become  an- 
tiquated and  decrepid  with  age,  is  nigh  to  its  final  disappearance." 
Then  let  us  not  cling  to  the  dotage  which  belongs  to  the  supersti- 
tions of  superannuated  nations,  but  press  onward  to  achieve,  with- 
out pause  or  encumbrance,  our  own  more  exalted  and  ennobling 
destiny. 

The  uniform  migration  assigned  to  human  progress,  and  the  re- 
gion of  its  fondest  aspirations,  have  always  been  in  one  direction. 
The  Egyptians  styled  their  paradise  the  land,  and  their  god  Osiris, 
the  lord  of  the  "  West."  The  Atalantis,  or  "  happy  isles"  of  the 
Greeks  were  situated  in  the  western  ocean.  To  the  west  lay,  hke- 
wise,  "  the  land  of  spirits"  of  all  our  American  savages.  In  fine, 
the  great  tree  of  humanity,  vouchsafed  to  overshadow  the  whole 
earth,  was  made  by  the  Divine  Husbandman  to  germinate  and 
send  up  its  strong  trunk  in  the  ancient  land  of  Asia,  Grafted  with 
a  noble  stalk,  it  shot  forth  new  branches,  and  unfolded  fairer  blos- 
soms in  Europe;  the  best  strength  and  sweetest  odor  of  which 
seem  destined  soon  to  appear  in  America,  embodied  in  its  latest 
and  richest  fruit.  Every  thing  here  is  happily  arranged  for  the  full 
accomplishment  of  the  gracious  designs  of  Providence  for  the  tri- 
umph of  the  true,  the  just,  and  the  good ;  so  that  if  Christians  are 
but  faithful  to  this  destination,  the  whole  world  will  soon  appear 
as  a  sublime  concert  of  nations,  blending  their  voices  into  a  lofty 
harmony  in  the  Creator's  praise. 

The  introduction  of  "  the  voluntary  system"  into  national  relig- 
ion, was  a  primary  fruit  of  the  American  revolution.  The  scheme 
was  entirely  new,  and  grew  out  of  the  great  movement  westward, 
and  Providence-wise,  in  the  person  and  principles  of  Roger  Wil- 
liams. The  Catholic  church,  which  had  been  mainly  instrumental 
in  building  up  our  modern  civilization,  became  corrupt  in  conse- 
quence of  the  absolute  supremacy  which  it  attained.    To  prevent 

19 


434 


WASHINGTON. 


the  like  corruption  from  vitiating  Christianity  in  this  new  land  cf 
her  sojourn,  the  best  mode  was  to  accord  equality  to  all  her  disci- 
ples, and  no  evil  has  resulted  from  the  experiment.  The  support 
given  to  religion  in  the  United  States  is  larger  than  in  any  Euro- 
pean state,  except  Great  Britain ;  the  professors  of  religion  here  are 
nearly  as  numerous  as  the  electors,  and  public  morality  is  certainly 
as  well  preserved  as  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  The  ecclesias- 
tical hierarchy  of  England  costs  as  much  as  all  the  states  of  conti- 
nental Europe  put  together,  and  contributes  least  to  the  promotion 
of  vital  religion  among  either  peoj)le  or  clergy.  About  forty  mil- 
lions of  dollars  are  paid  annually  to  the  church  establishment,  of 
which  enormous  sum  not  half  a  million  is  received  by  the  four 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  poor  curates,  who  do  nearly 
all  the  professional  work  as  deputies,  dependent  upon  the  absent 
state  bishop,  or  neighboring  aristocrat.  This  abominable  system 
of  pluralities  has  naturally  introduced  immorality  and  licentiousness 
among  a  large  proportion  of  the  upper  clerical  ranks.  The  mere 
form  of  religion  is  substituted  in  the  place  of  spiritual  power,  and 
may  be  said  to  constitute  the  system  of  modern  indulgences,  bj 
which  men  jDurchase  for  themselves  a  subterfuge  from  reproach 
In  America,  the  people  claim  the  interposition  of  their  state  gov- 
ernments, in  securing  the  freest  secular  education,  while  they  deny 
the  right  or  the  utility  of  interfering  in  any  degree  with  religion.  But 
by  the  rulers  of  England  the  law  is  entirely  reversed  ;  they  claim  a 
strict  superintendence  of  religious  interests  by  government,  and  are 
only  wilHng  to  leave  every  other  department  of  instruction  to  the 
voluntary  and  unassisted  efforts  of  individuals.  Fears  are  some- 
times entertained  lest  the  gTeat  numbers  of  Catholic  and  other  im- 
migrants should  exercise  an  inimical  influence  upon  our  resident 
population.  But  we  should  remember  that  the  institutions  indige- 
nous to  the  United  States  are  the  most  vigorous  protest  against 
both  religious  and  political  superstition,  and  by  their  own  uncoerced 
influence  will  most  effectively  transform  into  their  own  likeness  all 
comers  thereunto.  Maryland  was  settled  with  Cathohcs,  yet  it  is 
certain  that  American  Protestantism  has  exerted  a  much  more  pow- 
erful influence  upon  them  than  foreign  Catholicism.  The  most 
conservative  and  zealous  adherents  to  our  civil  and  religious  polity, 
coptui.ihy  in  the  great  new  States,  are  those  whose  alien  parents  re- 


RELIGION. 


435 


cently  landed  on  our  free  shores.  We  have  convinced  ourselves, 
and  will  yet  teach  the  world,  that  the  policy  of  government  consists 
in  permitting  the  utmost  latitude  of  thought,  and  the  fullest  liberty 
of  conscience. 

Christianity  did  not  take  full  possession  of  civil  society  in  medi- 
aeval times,  till  the  old  races  had  been  refreshed  by  the  mixture  of 
new  men.  Before  then,  says  Troplong,  it  had  "  rather  negotiated 
and  transacted  with  the  world  than  ruled  with  dominion."  The 
new  amalgam  now  forming  under  the  mild  splendor  of  western 
skies,  will  aggregate  within  itself  the  best  results  of  all  anterior  re- 
Hgious  discipline,  and  be  made  to  superabound  with  original  glories 
through  newly  added  spiritual  worth.  Papacy  may  ret  remain  for 
a  season,  as  a  reminiscence  of  incipient  culture,  and  the  waymark 
of  that  power  and  progress  which  a  fuller  unfolding  of  Christianity 
will  certainly  surpass,  as  she  proceeds  to  the  ulterior  accomplish- 
ment of  her  all-embracing  mission.  There  will  be  no  more  pontiffs, 
when  each  child  of  humanity  has  become  a  renovated  citizen, 
divinely  anointed  and  equipped  for  the  functions  of  acceptabk 
worship.  The  great  atonement,  or  sin-offering  of  mankind,  was 
consummated  by  Christ,  in  his  own  personal  sacrifice ;  and  the 
great  thank-offering  of  mankind  became  possible  through  Christ, 
by  means  of  the  Spirit.  Henceforth  there  can  be  no  more  humai, 
priesthood  or  typical  sacrifice  between  God  and  man,  for  the  Medi- 
ator, the  High  Priest,  is  himself  the  God  Man.  The  mediatorial 
act  of  reconciled  humanity  consists  simply  in  unencumbered  faith ; 
trust  in  the  love  of  God  revealed  to  the  individual  believer  in  Jesus 
Christ  by  the  Spirit,  promised  on  that  condition,  and  relying  upon 
that  Spirit  to  renew  his  own  heart,  and  the  world.  It  is  thus  that 
one  is  made  to  feel  that  the  Christian  religion  is  capable  of  an  infi- 
nite expansion.  God,  man,  mankind,  are  the  three  great  factors 
which  divine  grace  opens  up  in  individual  consciousness,  utterly 
distinct  from  external  conventionalisms,  the  harmonious  complete- 
ness of  which  will  yet  realize  the  fullness  of  heavenly  blessings  on 
earth.  In  the  beginning  of  this  dispensation,  a  supernatural  im- 
pulse prompted  one  hundred  and  twenty  believers,  men  and  women, 
natives  and  foreigners,  assembled  at  Jerusalem,  with  Pentecostal 
fervor  to  burst  forth  in  praise  of  God,  not  in  the  use  of  ritual  formu- 
laries, nor  in  the  extinct  sacred  language,  but  in  the  living  tongues 


436  WASHINGTON. 

of  multiftirious  nations,  which  had  then  become  the  organs  of  an 
inward  divine  life  and  adoration  common  to  all.  But  even  that 
glorious  outburst  of  spiritual  freedom  was  local,  and  is  yet  to  be 
infinitely  more  gloriously  universalized.  Then  will  our  holy  relig- 
ion be  seen  in  its  wholeness,  at  once  historical  and  ideal,  human  and 
divine ;  capable  equally  of  individual  and  general  application,  and 
to  be  gratefully  admired  as  well  for  its  perpetual  progress,  as  in  its 
final  triumphs. 

The  Lutheran  reformation  was  the  dissolution  of  popery,  which 
constructed  the  church  on  false  principles,  rather  than  the  restora- 
tion of  the  church  constructed  on  true  principles.  The  system 
superseded  at  the  end  of  the  Leoine  age,  had  achieved  the  civiliza- 
tion of  mankind,  but  true  Christianization  it  was  not  competent  to 
attain.  Milton  felt  this  when  he  vrrote  as  follows :  "  Truth,  indeed, 
once  came  into  the  world  with  her  divine  Master,  and  was  a  perfect 
shape  most  glorious  to  look  on,  but  when  he  ascended,  and  his 
apostles  after  him  were  laid  asleep,  then  straight  arose  a  wicked 
race  of  deceivers,  who,  as  that  story  goes  of  the  Egyptian  Typhon, 
with  his  conspirators,  how  they  dealt  with  the  good  Osiris,  took  the 
virgin  Truth,  hewed  her  lovely  form  into  a  thousand  pieces,  and 
scattered  them  to  the  four  winds.  From  that  time,  ever  since,  the 
sad  friends  of  Truth — such  as  durst  appear — imitating  the  careful 
search  that  Isis  made  for  the  mangled  body  of  Osiris,  went  up  and 
down,  gathering  up  limb  by  limb  still  as  they  could  find  them. 
We  have  not  yet  found  them  all,  lords  and  commons,  nor  ever  shall 
do  till  her  Master's  second  coming.  He  shall  bring  together  every 
joint  and  member,  and  shall  mold  them  into  an  immortal  feature 
of  loveliness  and  perfection."  Coincident  with  this  cheering  proph- 
ecy, and  in  the  region  where  it  was  uttered,  arose  the  Moravian 
brethren,  with  their  disciples  John  Wesley  and  George  Whitfield, 
to  teach  the  despairing  world  and  the  dissolute  or  impotent 
churches,  what  real  Christianity  is,  and  to  show  reflecting  Chris- 
tians how  little  true  power  exists  in  national  establishments  and 
their  crippled  machinery.  Whitfield,  like  the  embodiment  of 
seraphic  zeal,  fulmined  from  the  interior  of  Oxford  to  the  outer 
borders  of  our  young  republic,  and  having  poured  all  the  worth  of 
Lis  spirit  into  the  fountain  of  religious  life  in  America,  gave  his 
body  to  our  soil,  and  now  sleeps  near  Pilgrim  Rock.  Wesleyism 


RELIGION. 


437 


did  mucli  to  regenerate  the  effete  theology  under  whose  ponderous 
impotency  it  originated,  but  is  now  fast  losing  its  power  by  an  in- 
creased assimilation  to  the  surrounding  curse  of  universal  formalism. 
In  the  eastern  portion  of  our  own  land,  too,  where  her  first  foothold 
was  gained,  and  the  grandest  conquests  in  fervid  simplicity  were 
secured,  that  communion  is  losing  strength,  we  fear ;  but  in  the 
great  West,  the  billows  of  heavenly  fire  augment  as  they  advance, 
and  millions  of  beautiful,  as  well  as  fmitful  plants  will  hereafter 
spring,  in  consequence  of  the  yet  wider  and  freer  spreadings  of  the 
celestial  flames.  Glory  be  to  God,  a  westward  fusion  of  races  has 
begim,  an  assimilation  of  nations  is  in  progress ;  all  arbitrary  front- 
iers are  giving  way ;  distances  diminish ;  provincialisms  disappear ; 
sects  and  forms  of  worships  are  brought  into  contact,  and  are  mod- 
ified by  every  advantage  flowing  from  salutary  emulation,  v/hile 
they  regard  each  other  on  a  closer  view  with  less  animosity  or  re- 
serve. Partisans  whose  views  are  short,  and  whose  minds  are  nar- 
row, may  look  with  regret  upon  the  disappearance  of  the  difierences 
which  characterize  absolute  social  systems.  But  fear  not,  men  and 
brethren,  we  are  spectators  of  a  delightful  and  auspicious  exhibi- 
tion. Let  nationalities  disappear,  and  in  their  stead  leave  mankind 
jfree  in  the  presence  of  their  heavenly  Father !  They  have  tried 
long  enough  to  form  themselves  into  ameliorating  leagues,  and 
fiiendly  alliances,  under  the  sway  of  legislative  force ;  the  best  alh- 
»  ance  is  that  of  the  family,  the  equally  free  and  unitedly  loving 
family  of  Christ. 

The  heart  of  young  America  is  not  altogether  in  the  past,  but 
Hke  the  youth  of  all  progressive  peoples,  it  fondly  anticipates  a 
niillennium  to  come.  There  is  much  new  spiritual  wine  springing 
on  our  soil,  and  no  wise  husbandman  will  attempt  to  conserve  it  in 
old  bottles.  In  the  age  which  now  is,  has  appeared  an  increased 
degree  of  independence  and  self-help,  a  growing  opinion  that  man 
should  select  his  own  credo,  construct  his  own  opinions,  pay  no 
great  deference  to  ancient  usages,  nor  venerate  any  thing  save  hon- 
orable worth.  This  doctrine  set  in  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  no  party  or  power  on  earth  can  arrest  its  universal  adoption. 
We  envy  not  the  formahsms  of  that  worship  which  vaunts  itself 
amidst  cathedral  ostentation,  where  the  organ  and  choir  perform 
their  mountebank  mouthings  over  ashes,  bones,  and  dead  marble; 


438 


WASHINGTON. 


gorgeous  edifices,  comparatively  empty,  which  give  back  the  sounds 
of  weekly  mummery,  while  hundreds  of  thousands  live  unrecked  of, 
and  die  uncared  for. 

"We  want  no  chief  priests  to  lounge  in  the  senate,  robed  in  pur- 
ple and  fine  linen,  faring  sumptuously  every  day,  and  ambitious  of 
laying  their  presumptuous  hands  on  the  advancing  ark  of  truth 
only  to  retard  it.  The  men  of  sacred  functions  whom  our  age  and 
country  demand,  are  those  who  hail  the  spirit  of  the  times  with 
joy,  as  the  expanding  soul  of  humanity,  with  its  lightnings  striking 
down  the  throne  of  tyranny  and  the  altar  of  priestcraft.  In  ferti- 
lizing co-operation  they  waken  arts  and  sciences,  and  bid  them  ad- 
vance to  bless  the  people,  by  erecting  homes  of  comfort  and  culture 
amid  prairies  where  the  panther  roamed,  or  on  heights  where  the 
eagle  propagated  his  glorious  strength.  With  sanctified  indigna- 
tion they  repel  the  arrogant  claims  of  antique  bigotry,  and  cease 
not  revising  the  laws  of  property,  the  creeds  of  religion,  the  rights 
of  the  citizen ;  making  the  whole  land  a  temple,  a  university,  a 
lecture-room,  a  congress.  Originating  opinions,  they  render  them 
free  and  prevalent  as  the  national  atmosphere  ;  canceling  the  in- 
dentures of  hereditary  governors  and  teachers,  popularizing  all  lan- 
guages, with  the  richest  treasures  of  each,  exploring  every  ocean 
and  cave,  analyzing  all  substances,  ransacking  all  libraries,  they 
tend  always  and  in  every  thing  to  discover  and  apply  whatever  is 
conducive  to  the  health,  comfort,  and  freedom  of  man.  These  are 
not  rapid  and  speculative  theorists,  but  the  practical  and  beneficent 
workers  for  God  and  man.  Passing  amid  the  agitated  and  desti- 
tute crowds,  they  recognize  in  them  the  mighty  woof  of  humanity, 
and  teach  each  brother  to  throw  his  shuttle  across  the  loom  of 
time,  and  with  fraternal  dehght  weave  the  needful  robe.  A  terrific 
power  is  indeed  sleeping  or  waking  in  the  vast  multitudes  now 
gathering  in  the  West,  and  that  which  of  all  things  is  most  requisite 
there  and  everywhere,  is  a  high  and  pure  moral  education.  Give 
them  that  under  the  eye,  and  for  the  glory,  of  that  Father  who 
overlooks  the  world,  and  with  cheerful  congratulations  we  may 
greet  the  changes  which  wait  upon  each  revolving  year,  and  walk 
unperturbed  in  presence  of  the  sublime  destinies  of  this  mighty 
Union.  When  Columbus  sailed  toward  the  new  and  boundless 
world,  while  mutiny  was  in  the  vessel,  and  round  him  spread  the 


REJ^IGION. 


431i 


wild  and  threatening  billows,  muttering  despair,  we  are  told  that 
flowers,  weeds,  and  stray  leaves,  floated  near  the  ship,  and  resting 
on  the  mast-head  came  birds  of  the  most  beautiful  and  gorgeous 
plumage,  and  as  the  sun  gleamed  on  their  variegated  wings,  they 
seemed  like  the  angels  of  hope  beckoning  across  the  watery  waste. 
So  to  us  in  the  midst  of  occasional  tempests,  and  selfish  cliques,  ap- 
pear the  intimations  of  the  promised  land,  fruitful  of  all  good,  to 
which  we  are  hastening ;  and  we  only  need  to  remind  one  another 
of  these  pleasant  omens,  which  are  too  full  of  the  promised 
triumph  to  allow  the  spiiit  of  the  Cape  to  either  depress  or  destroy. 

The 'education  of  "  the  Brigham  girl,"  deaf,  dumb,  and  bhnd,  was 
a  characteristic  achievement  of  New  England  enterprise.  The 
"  Elaine  Law,"  and  other  kindred  efforts  for  the  prevention  as  well 
as  cure  of  evils  incident  to  fallen  human  nature,  are  worthy  of  the 
cause  they  serve,  and  honor  that  merciful  God  by  whom  they  are 
inspired.  The  "  Ragged  School"  has  also  traversed  new  shores  of 
philanthropy  and  transformed  the  "  Old  Brewery"  into  the  school- 
house  of  intelligence,  and  the  temple  of  religion.  In  rooms  where 
the  master  formerly  taught  young  proficients  how  adroitly  to  pick 
pockets,  and  precocious  lusts  rioted  in  the  most  loathsome  orgies, 
orphanage  now  practices  the  lessons  of  honorable  industry,  and 
rescued  penitents  bow  in  virtuous  prayer.  By  hundreds  the  heirs 
of  misfortune  and  involuntary  victirris  of  vice  are  gathered  from 
the  purlieus  of  our  great  eastern  cities,  in  the  bosom  of  judicious 
piety,  and  are  instinctively  borne  to  the  far  West  as  the  asylum 
which  affords  a  home  for  the  protection  and  healthful  exercise  of 
each  faculty  and  limb,  be  it  young  or  old,  feeble  or  strong.  In  the 
East  we  have  heard  much  of  the  refinement  of  the  college,  and  are 
glad,  on  a  much  broader  and '  brighter  scale,  to  see  spreading  the 
refinement  of  the  cottage.  The  schoolmaster  of  the  masses  is  the 
great  minister  for  whom  the  mightiest  generations  wait.  With 
increased  effulgence  they  will  arise  to  reflect  and  augment  the 
bright&ess  they  have  received ;  and,  as  in  the  Grecian  race  of  old, 
they  vnll  cast  onward  the  torch  from  one  to  another,  till  spiritual 
gloom  and  vassalage  shall  no  more  be  found.  Over  all  our  vast 
western  domain  the  rays  of  commingled  truth  and  righteousness 
will  eventually  fall,  like  blessed  flakes  of  beautiful  light,  penetrat- 
ing, subduing,  transforming  into  the  image  of  Christ.    The  spirit 


440 


WASHINGTON. 


of  Christianity  is  vital  and  mighty,  because  it  is  the  spirit  of  eter- 
nity, constituting  that  wholeness  and  heartiness  which  the  world 
most  needs.  Without  measure,  the  spirit  of  man  will  yet  receive 
liberty,  intelligence,  religion,  health  ;  and  to  this  end  the  old  forms 
in  which  the  word  and  Spirit  of  God  have  been  immured  and  en- 
shrined, as  they  move  westward,  will  become  increasingly  unclasped, 
so  that  permanent  power,  free  from  the  transient  robe  and  chain, 
may  go  forth  as  the  apostle  of  peace  and  herald  of  good  tidings 
of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all  people. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  1837,  a  statue  to  the  memory  of  Gutten- 
berg,  the  inventor  of  printing,  was  opened  to  the  public  at  Mayence. 
High  mass  was  performed  by  the  bishop,  and  the  first  printed  Bible 
was  displayed.  What  a  suggestive  incident !  Amid  the  impos- 
ing pageantries  of  Romanism,  wherein  popular  worship  is  conducted 
in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  by  which  the  revelation  of  God  is  in 
great  part  kept  a  sealed  book,  that  first  printed  copy  was  displayed, 
the  genu  of  millions  of  Bibles  which  have  spread  the  light  of  Chris- 
tianity throughout  the  habitable  globe.  The  two  most  influential 
eras  of  all  authentic  history  stand  most  intimately  connected  with  a 
more  fundamental  view  of  this  incident — the  diffusion  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  Septuagint  version  followed,  and  arose  out  of,  the  cul- 
mination of  the  Periclean  age  ;  and  the  formation  of  modern  Bible 
Societies,  was  cotemporaneoiis  with  the  inauguration  of  Washing- 
ton. The  former  coincided  with  the  perfection  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, then  about  to  pervade  the  entire  East,  through  the  agency  of 
Alexander ;  and  the  latter  arose  simultaneously  with  English  su- 
premacy in  both  hemispheres.  All  that  is  in  the  Bible  will  yet  be 
in  the  world,  realized  by  and  for  progressive  amelioration,  and 
every  omen  indicates  that  the  ultimate  fullness  of  knowledge  and 
righteousness  will  be  attained  by  mankind  through  the  medium 
of  our  mother  tongue.  The  free  criticism  of  the  sacred  writings 
during  the  last  fifty  years  has  done  infinitely  more  to  advance 
than  to  prevent  the  understanding  of  ^the  divine  substance  of  them, 
not  only  in  the  New  Testament,  but  also  in  the  Old.  The  dead 
rationalism  of  the  eighteenth  century  bore  its  own  corpse  to  the 
grave,  except  where  it  has  been  preserved  as  a  mummy  in  state 
churches,  and  cherished  as  a  dead  household  god  by  effete  hierar- 
chies.   But  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  the  Spirit,  and  "  the 


RELIGION. 


441 


Spirit  is  Truth."  Life  only  proceeds  from  life,  and  a  corpse  is  none 
the  more  potent  when  wrapped  in  brilliant  drapery.  The  pool  of 
Bethesda  imparted  its  healing  properties  only  when  the  waters  were 
moved.  Earnest  searching  of  the  Scriptures,  and  repeated  trials  at 
a  more  perfect  rendering  of  their  saving  import  can  result  in  noth- 
ing but  good.  Where  life  is,  there  is  also  spirit,  a  liberty  which  is 
enhanced  and  controlled  by  the  mightiest  spiritual  life  ;  but  where 
life  is  not,  there  must  be  death,  and  by  nothing  can  vitality  be  pro- 
duced. Timid  and  slavish  fears  may  still  protest  against  improved 
criticism,  and  against  this,  as  to  all  other  religious  progress,  oppose 
that  Medusa-head  called  the  danger  of  rationalistic  interpretation. 
But  it  is  too  late  in  the  dawn  of  blessed  experience  and  expectation 
to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  petrified.  As  the  free  personal  sacrifice  of 
Christ  offered  once  for  all,  was  the  central  event  of  universal  his- 
tory, so  is  the  full  and  free  unfolding  of  his  word,  under  the  broad 
and  unobscured  sky-light  of  his  Spirit,  the  central  source  of  all 
sanctifying  truth. 

The  great  religious  movement  of  our  age  is  breaking  up  deeper 
and  deeper  strata  each  succeeding  year,  and  the  upturning  of  a  still 
profounder  and  broader  stratum  is  yet  to  come.  Never  before  was 
the  future  apprehended  with  such  excited  desire  and  hope  as  by  the 
present  generation,  for  they  most  generally  feel  that  a  more  radical 
regeneration  is  possible  which  shall  contain  within  itself  the  funda- 
mental element  of  a  newer,  better,  and  more  durable  social  order. 
Not  that  in  these  United  States  we  are  in  danger  of  relapsing  into 
a  Priest  Church,  or  of  becoming  consoUdated  into  a  State  Church, 
but  that  it  is  our  pecuhar  mission,  under  God,  to  organize  the  Peo- 
ple's Church,  with  Christ  for  our  only  legislator,  teacher  and  judge. 
We  believe  that  this  divine  Master  would  have  no  successor  of 
Caiaphas  to  lord  it  over  his  flock,  and  no  successor  of  Pontius 
Pilate  or  Tiberius,  whether  professedly  in  or  out  of  the  discipleship. 
He,  our  S3mipathizing  friend,  and  merciful  God,  will  have  all  men 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  then  he  will  himself  come 
again  without  sin  unto  salvation.  If  tyrants  will  not  surrender 
their  chains,  and  bigots  refuse  to  modify  their  creeds  in  timely  prep- 
aration for  that  final  advent,  the  gigantic  and  flaming  characters 
written  on  heaven  and  earth,  as  foretokens  of  approaching  ful- 
fillment, may  nevertheless  remain,  that  the  obdurate  may  read 

19* 


442 


WASHINGTON. 


them  in  tlie  glare  of  retribution,  if  they  refuse  to  recognize  their 
warning  through  the  light  of  reason. 

The  heavenly  ladder  is  revealed  to  weary  humanity,  even  while 
slumbering  heavily  at  its  feet  on  pillows  of  stone.  But  the  hour 
is  near  when  with  refreshed  wakefulness,  the  blessing  of  triumphant 
deliverance  so  long  wrestled  for  will  be  obtained.  A  new  civil- 
ization has  already  been  born,  in  which  all  the  treasures  of  litera- 
ture, art,  science,  philosophy  and  religion,  the  richest  heritage 
from  antecedent  mind,  will  here  blend  in  highest  purity,  to  en- 
joy progress  amid  constantly  decreased  impediments,  and  display 
ultimate  splendors  without  a  spot.  Charity  will  have  fully  com- 
bined with  enthusiasm,  and  that  hope  which  is  the  attribute  of 
republics,  and  which  finds  its  legitimate  fortune  wholly  vested  in 
the  advance  of  its  conscious  mission,  will  be  most  divinely  real- 
ized in  the  universal  sovereignty  of  unadulterated  faith.  We  are 
to  remember,  however,  that  the  moral  progress  of  our  planet 
is  slow.  But  in  this  particular  it  only  resembles  the  general 
economy  of  the  whole  natural  world,  wherein  the  law  evidently 
obtains  that,  the  higher  the  value  and  the  more  important  the 
nature  of  a  given  product,  the  slower  is  its  march  toward  perfect 
development.  Not  a  few  sad  features  at  present  mark  the  gene- 
ral view.  What  boundless  wastes  of  land  are  there  without  a  tem- 
ple or  a  school,  the  region  of  the  inaccessible  jungle  and  tangled 
woodland,  haunted  by  savage  beasts,  and  by  nearly  as  savage 
men.  What  millions  enter  the  pagodas  of  cruelty  and  lust,  and 
shrink  from  the  blaze  that  glitters  along  the  marble,  with  strange 
emotions,  or  transfix  themselves  in  the  agonizing  postures  which 
cruel  devotion  or  blank  superstition  requires.  Coming  to  so-called 
civilized  lands,  what  thousands  lie  confined  in  cells,  where  des- 
pots incarcerate  the  brave,  who  wait  for  the  relief  afforded  by  death, 
and  leave  behind  them,  with  the  memory  of  their  sufferings,  a 
gleam  to  lighten  posterity.  What  thousands,  slaves  of  cupidity, 
drive  on  the  unheeding  hour,  and  pray  from  the  wretched  cottage 
and  the  famished  heart,  "  How  long,  oh  Lord,  how  long  ?"  What 
millions  of  lonely  hunters  pursue  their  way  across  the  prairie  and 
over  the  mountain,  clothed  in  the  savage  skin,  with  the  weapons 
of  war  in  their  hand  for  a  defense.  But  all  this  only  attests  the 
youthfulness  of  our  civilization,  and  affords  the  highest  encourage- 


RELIGION. 


443 


raent  to  our  hope.  Tlie  predestined  and  perpetual  amelioration 
can  not  fail.  Our  sun,  and  system  over  which  he  presides,  is  so 
moving  from  his  present  position  in  space,  that  earth  will  one  day- 
be  surrounded  by  skies  whose  nightly  brilliancy  shall  infinitely 
transcend  our  present  firmament ;  and  though  countless  ages  will 
pass  away  before  the  event  fully  transpires,  yet,  by  an  inevitable 
law,  it  must  come. 

Nations  speaking  the  Enghsh  language  seem  to  be  the  appointed 
propagators  of  that  Christian  civihzation  upon  which  the  future  des- 
tinies of  mankind  depend,  and  which,  once  spread  and  rooted,  will 
be  everlasting.  No  other  people  have  yet  reached  the  degree  of 
intelligence,  liberty,  reason,  and  power  requisite  to  the  exalted  mis- 
sion. Anglo- Americans  have  already  attained  the  highest  point  of 
excellence  possible  to  imperfect  progi'ess,  and  prove  their  great  ad- 
vance by  the  accurate  test  of  superior  invention.  Thus  occupying 
the  head  of  modern  culture,  they  are  an  exemplar  to  all  nations, 
and  the  vanguard  of  humanity  in  its  onward  course.  The  deliber- 
ate but  sure  aggression  of  constitutional  liberty  and  moral  improve- 
ment will  inevitably  work  out  their  beneficent  consequences  here 
and  everywhere.  The  symptoms  of  tranquil  progress  and  estab- 
lished freedom  multiply  and  become  more  evident  every  day. 
There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  leading  minds  in  every  calling 
increasingly  appreciate  the  blessings  connected  with  the  highest 
improvement,  aware  that  the  grandeur  and  permanency  of  a  nation 
depend  wholly  on  a  social  state  founded  on  true  rehgion,  on  a  just 
and  humane  organization  of  industry,  under  the  auspices  of  rational 
freedom. 

The  great  movement,  in  which  all  Christian  people  more  or  less 
participate,  and  will  henceforth  participate  to  a  much  greater  extent, 
has  its  origin  in  causes  over  which  man  has  no  power.  It  proceeds 
from  Jehovah,  who  has  willed  that  society  at  large  should  advance 
perpetually  toward  a  goal,  not  indeed  to  be  actually  attained  on 
earth,  but  which  may  be  constantly  approximated.  Happy  for  us 
that  our  destiny  has  for  its  indestructible  principle  that  primary  and 
fundamental  law  by  virtue  of  which  humanity  always  tends  to  for- 
tify its  energies  and  perfect  its  growth  ;  so  that,  in  proportion  as 
intelHgence  is  exalted  by  Christianity,  the  juvenile  man  expands 
and  develops  himself  into  all  the  maturity  of  age.    What  is  true 


444 


WASHINGTON. 


of  the  individual  is  true  also  of  the  community  in  general ;  it  is  re- 
quired to  traverse  all  the  phases  and  successive  conditions  of  life, 
in  order  to  arrive  in  the  unity  of  faith  and  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God,  to  the  state  of  perfected  humanity  (Eph.  iv.  13),  at  that 
gi'and  era  which  the  apostle  termed  the  age  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ ;  and  which,  consummated  through  sublunary  discipline  as 
far  as  is  possible,  will  reinstate  us  in  the  possession  of  those  prim- 
itive rights  and  sacred  liberties  under  the  favor  of  which  we  shall 
realize  that  regenerated  nature  which  the  divine  Saviour  came  to 
produce. 

We  have  no  occasion  to  despair  of  Providence.  Having  found 
God  abundant  in  goodness  and  mercy  as  it  respects  all  that  has 
preceded  us,  we  may  expect  that  he  will  be  found  yet  more  mani- 
fest in  what  is  to  follow.  To  use  the  expression  of  a  great  German 
poet,  in  judgment  and  heart,  "We  are  citizens  of  the  time  to 
come  !"  Firmly  believing  in  the  wise  disposal  of  all  events  by  the 
great  and  only  Sovereign,  the  faith  of  confiding  Christians  survives 
the  despair  of  the  boldest  secular  heroes,  knowing  that  the  stream 
as  it  passes  only  goes  nearer  to  the  sea.  The  astronomer  loses  no 
confidence  in  a  star  at  the  time  of  an  eclipse.  The  destiny  of  man 
is  often  determined  by  the  very  passions  which  seem  designed  to 
reverse  it.  Augustine  went  to  Milan,  intending  to  teach  rhetoric, 
but  it  was  to  be  convei-ted  by  Ambrose,  and  thus  to  verify  the  say- 
ing of  Anselm,  that  we  are  led  "  through  vanity  to  truth."  But 
let  us  not  forget  that  neither  the  holiness  nor  heroism  of  former 
times  will  avail  us  and  our  posterity,  if  a  lofty  spirit,  dignity,  and 
innocence  be  not  transmitted  ;  that  vain  and  worthless  will  be  self- 
applause,  and  the  most  abundant  material  prosperity,  if  the  grace 
of  that  Being  is  forfeited,  who  can  pull  down  the  mighty,  confound 
the  proud,  and  in  the  balance  of  unerring  justice  determine  the 
fame  and  destiny  of  nations. 

The  leaven  may  seem  lost  in  the  lump  for  a  while,  but  it  will 
come  at  length  in  full  force  to  the  outer  edge,  and  will  be  all  the 
mightier  for  the  purification  it  has  wi'ought  within.  The  pro- 
founder  the  renovation,  the  more  protracted  the  time  required. 
Ti'uth  stereotyped  in  blood  lasts  longer,  and  is  more  impressively 
read  than  when  published  by  any  other  means.  Fire  burns  brighter 
and  wider  when  all  the  winds  are  let  loose  upon  it.    If  kindled  by 


RELIGION. 


445 


oppression,  the  ashes  of  martyrs  will  sow  the  whole  earth  for  a  Cad- 
mean  harvest  of  indomitable  heroes. 

When  the  tongues  of  emancipating*,  and  not  destroying,  flames 
sat  in  splendid  freedom  upon  the  brows  of  primitive  Christians,  they 
were  equally  crowned  with  a  part  of  the  sovereignty  conquered  by 
the  great  Deliverer,  and  spake  with  power  because  they  respired 
spontaneously  the  free  and  vital  air  given  to  regenerate  our  fallen 
race.  Such  will  be  the  condition  of  the  church  in  the  end,  as  it 
was  in  the  beginning.  The  perfection  of  the  social  order  depends 
upon  the  perfection  of  spiritual  adoration.  A  well  organized  so- 
ciety, based  upon  and  imbued  with  true  religion,  is  the  most  beau- 
tiful temple  that  can  be  elevated  to  the  supreme  Deity.  Liberty, 
Law,  Peace,  these  three  vfords  were  engraved  upon  the  entrance  to 
the  chief  shrine  at  Delphi ;  they  will  yet  be  written  along  the  en- 
tire circumference  of  our  globe ;  and  radiate  with  the  glory  of 
Christ  from  pole  to  equator,  and  from  equator  to  pole. 


THE  END. 


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Most  persons  know  that  the  Council  of  Trent  was  a  product  of  the  Reforma- 
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who  wish  to  know  (and  it  is  a  matter  worth  knowing)  will  find  ample  means  of 
information  in  this  volume.  *  *  *  He  (the  author)  is  clear  in  statement,  subtle 
and  consecutive  in  his  logic,  and  steers  as  far  from  dullness  as  from  sourness. — 
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It  is  all  that  a  history  should  be— perspicuous  in  language,  discriminating  in 
detail,  dignified  and  philosophical  in  manner,  candid  and  faithful  in  the  narration 
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— Caledonian  Meecury. 

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Characterized  by  clearness,  truthfulness,  and  vigor  in  the  narrative,  acuteness 
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Watchman. 

The  work  before  us  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  very  best  that  has  appeared  on 
the  subject.  The  writer  has  abundant  materials,  and  has  used  them  with  fidelity^ 
impartiality,  and  talent.  His  brilliant  style  radiates  in  every  department  of  the 
work. — Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin. 

A  work  of  permanent  interest,  which  should  be  well  understood  by  the  ministry 
of  our  church  and  country. — Christian  Observer. 

It  is  adapted  for  popular  reading ;  while,  as  a  true  portraiture  of  men  and  things 
in  the  Council,  it  is  invaluable  to  the  theologian. — Christian  Intelligencer. 


MEXICO  AND  ITS  RELIGION; 

Or,  Incidents  of  Travel  in  that  Country  during  Parts  of  the  Years 
1851-52-53-54,  with  Historical  Notices  of  Events  connected 
with  Places  Visited.    By  Robert  A.  "Wilson.    "Wiih  Illustra- 
tions.   12mo,  Muslin,  $1  00. 
This  is  a  record  of  recent  travel  in  various  parts  of  Mexico,  including  full  sta- 
tistical details,  historical  reminiscences  and  legends,  and  descriptions  of  society, 
manners,  and  scenery.    A  large  portion  is  devoted  to  the  influence  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  relates  many  piquant  narratives  in  illustration  of  the  subject.  The 
author  writes  in  a  lively,  graphic,  and,  sometimes,  humorous  style.   He  gives  a 
great  deal  of  valuable  information,  and  his  travels  can  not  fail  to  find  numerous 
readers  and  prove  a  most  popular  volume. 


SEYMOUR'S  JESUITS. 

Mornings  among  the  Jesuits  at  Rome.  Being  ISTotes  of  Conversa- 
tions held  with  certain  Jesuits  on  the  Subject  of  Religion  in  the 
City  of  Rome.  By  Rev.  M.  Hobart  Seymour,  M.A.  12mo, 
Muslin,  75  cents. 


INEZ, 

A  Tale  of  the  Alamo.    12mo,  Muslin,  '75  cents. 

We  have  to  recommend  the  book  to  pious  parents  and  guardians  as  written  un- 
der the  influence  of  the  strictest  Protestant  principles  ;  and  to  introduce  it  to  young 
ladies  in  general,  as  containing  some  very  nice  "  love,"  seasoned  pleasantly  with 
just  enough  fighting  to  make  the  whole  story  agreeable.— Leader. 

When  the  Texans  threw  off  the  Mexican  yoke  and  entered  into  our  National 
Confederacy,  no  portion  of  her  people  felt  the  change  more  keenly  than  her  Ro- 
mish priesthood,  and  especially  the  Jesuits.  Their  counter  and  insidious  duties 
of  social  and  domestic  life  is  the  moral  of  this  story.  The  lady  who  wrote  it  has 
studied  the  Romish  argument,  and  has  managed  it  with  effect.  It  is  not  a  book 
of  the  "  Maria  Monk"  stamp  ;  it  is  a  successful  refutation  and  exposure,  in  popu- 
lar form,  of  some  of  the  worst  points  of  the  Romish  sysiem.—  Church  Review. 

A  most  inviting  story,  the  interest  of  which  is  sustained  throughout  its  narra- 
tive of  stirring  events  and  deep  passions. — Mobile  Register. 

The  descriptions  of  scenes  of  carnage,  and  the  alarms  and  excitements  of  war 
are  graphic,  while  the  polemics  are  not  so  spun  out  as  to  be  tedious.  The  por- 
traiture of  the  Jesuit  padre  is  any  thing  but  flattering  to  the  Catholic  priesthood, 
while  her  dissertations  upon  the  doctrines,  traditions,  practices,  and  superstitious 
follies  of  the  Holy  Mother  Church  prove  her  to  be  no  respecter  of  its  claims  to  in- 
fallibility, and  no  admirer  of  the  disciples  of  Loyola. — Constitutionalist  ajid  Re- 
public, Ga. 

We  have  read  this  work  with  the  liveliest  pleasure,  and  we  venture  to  assert,  • 
that  no  one  can  take  it  up  without  going  through  with  it. — Richmond  Whig. 

LE  CURE  MANQUE; 

Or,  Social  and  Religious  Customs  in  France.    By  Eugexe  de  Cour- 
ciLLON.    12mo,  Muslin,  15  cents. 

The  autobiography  of  a  young  French  peasant  who  was  trained  for  the  Church. 
Its  specific  purpose  is  to  give  an  account  of  the  social  and  rural  life  and  supersti- 
tions of  the  peasants  of  Normandy,  and  to  show  the  relations  existing  between 
them  and  their  priests.  The  author  also  describes,  in  a  very  interesting  manner, 
the  routine  and  customs  of  the  French  ecclesiastical  seminaries. 

"Le  Cure  Manque  is  a  curious  work,  for  its  pictures  of  French  peasant  man- 
ners, its  account  of  village  priests,  and  its  quiet  but  bitter  satire  on  the  selfishness 
of  the  Romanist  country  clergy,  and  the  ignorance  in  which  they  leave  their  flocks. 
The  filling  up  of  the  story  shows  remarkable  skill,  for  the  easy  natural  way  in 
which  it  carries  out  the  authors  intention  of  exhibiting  "  social  and  religious  cus- 
toms" in  provincial  France. — London  Spectator. 

The  strange  state  of  society,  with  its  French  and  Papal  habits  which  it  por- 
trays, will  set  new  facts  before  the  mind  of  even-traveled  readers. — Presbyterian 
Banner. 

Le  Cure  Manque  (the  Unfinished  Priest)  is  a  title  which  very  accurately  con- 
veys an  idea  of  what  the  book  is.  It  lets  the  public  behind  the  scenes  in  a  remark- 
able manner,  and  is  one  of  the  most  readable  books  of  the  season. — N.Y.  Baity 
Times. 

A  most  agreeable  and  entertaining  narrative,  opening  to  most  American  readers 
novel,  strange,  and  (many  of  them)  charming  scenes.  Though  the  Church  may 
be  a  loser  (which  is  doubtful,  however),  the  world  has  certainly  been  a  gainer  by 
his  apostacy  from  his  sacred  calling. — Savannah  Journal. 

The  exposition  of  the  Romish  ceremonials,  and  of  the  subjecture  of  the  masses 
of  the  French  people  to  priestcraft  are  peculiarly  interesting.  We  quote,  "  How 
a  mass  may  be  said  for  a  pig,  and  refused  for  a  Protestant."— TV.  Y.  Commereial 
Advertiser. 


HARPER'S  NEW  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE. 


Each  Number  of  the  Magazine  will  contain  144  octavo  pages,  in  double  col- 
umns, each  year  thus  comprising  nearly  two  thousand  pages  of  the  choicest  Mis- 
cellaneous Literature  of  the  day.  Every  number  will  contain  numerous  Pictorial 
Illustrations,  accurate  Plates  of  the  Fashions,  a  copious  Chronicle  of  Current 
Events,  and  impartial  Notices  of  the  important  Books  of  the  Month.  The  Vol- 
umes commence  with  the  Numbers  for  June  and  December  ;  but  Subscriptions 
may  commence  with  any  number. 

Tehms. — The  Magazine  may  be  obtained  of  Booksellers,  Periodical  Agents,  or 
from  the  Publishers,  at  Three  Dollars  a  year,  or  Twenty-five  Cents  a 
Number.  The  Semi-Annual  Volumes,  as  completed,  neatly  bound  in  Cloth,  are 
sold  at  Two  Dollars  each,  and  Muslin  Covers  are  furnished  to  those  who  wish  to 
have  their  back  Numbers  uniformly  bound,  at  Twenty-five  Cents  each.  Eleven 
Volumes  are  now  ready,  bound. 

The  Publishers  will  supply  Specimen  Numbers  gratuitously  to  Agents  and 
Postmasters,  and  will  make  liberal  arrangements  with  them  for  circulating  the 
Magazine.  They  will  also  supply  Clubs,  of  two  persons  at  Five  Dollars  a  year, 
or  five  persons  at  Ten  Dollars.  Clergymen  supplied  at  Two  Dollars  a  year. 
Numbers  from  the  commencement  can  now  be  supplied. 

The  Magazine  weighs  over  seven  and  not  over  eight  ounces.  The  Postage  upon 
each  Number,  which  vnist  be  paid  quarterly  in  advance,  is  Three  Cents. 

The  Publishers  would  give  notice  that  that  they  have  no  Agents 
for  whose  contracts  they  are  responsible.  Those  ordering  the  Mag- 
azine from  Agents  or  Dealers  must  look  to  them  for  the  supply  of  the 
Work. 

Each  month  it  gladdens  us  and  our  household,  to  say  nothing  of  the  neighbors 
who  enjoy  it  with  us.  Twenty-five  cents  buys  it— the  cheapest,  richest,  and  most 
lasting  luxury  for  the  money  that  we  know.  Three  dollars  secures  it  for  one 
year :  and  what  three  dollars  ever  went  so  far  1  Put  the  same  amount  in  clothes, 
eating,  drinking,  furniture,  and  how  much  of  a  substantial  thing  is  obtained  ?  If 
ideas,  facts,  and  sentiments,  have  a  monetary  value— above  all,  if  the  humor  that 
refreshes,  the  pleasantries  that  bring  a  gentle  smile,  and  brighten  the  passage  of 
a  truth  to  your  brain,  and  the  happy  combination  of  the  real  and  the  imaginative, 
without  which  no  one  can  live  a  life  above  the  animal,  are  to  be  put  in  the  scale 
opposite  to  dollars  and  cents,  then  you  may  be  certain,  that  if  Harper  were  three 
or  four  times  as  dear,  it  would  amply  repay  its  price.  It  is  a  Magazine  proper, 
with  the  idea  and  purpose  of  a  Magazine — not  a  book,  not  a  scientific  periodical, 
nor  yet  a  supplier  of  light  gossip  and  chatty  anecdotes — but  a  Magazine  that  takes 
every  form  of  interesting,  dignified,  and  attractive  literature  in  its  grasp. — South- 
em  Times. 

Its  success  was  rapid,  and  has  continued  till  the  monthly  issue  has  reached  the 
unprecedented  number  of  150,000.  The  volumes  bound  constitute  of  themselves 
a  librar^'  of  miscellaneous  reading,  such  as  can  not  be  found  in  the  same  compass 
in  any  other  publication  that  has  come  under  our  notice.  The  contents  of  the 
Magazine  are  as  "various  as  the  mind  of  man."  In  the  immense  amount  of  mat- 
ter which  it  contains,  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  there  was  not  something  to 
gratify  every  taste.  The  articles  illustrating  the  natural  history  and  resources 
of  our  country  are  enough  to  entitle  the  Magazine  to  a  place  in  every  family  where 
there  are  children  to  be  taught  to  love  their  native  land.  The  Editor's  Table  pre« 
sents  every  month  an  elaborately  prepared  essay  on  some  topic  intimately  con- 
nected with  our  politics,  our  morals,  or  our  patriotism,  \vhile  the  Easy  Chair  and 
the  Drawer  of  the  same  responsible  personage— doubtless  a  plural  mnf— display 
gems  of  wit,  humor,  and  fancy,  in  any  quantity  to  suit  the  temper  of  any  reader- 
—  Boston  Courier. 


HARPER'S  STORY  BOOKS. 


A.  Monthly  Series  of  Narratives,  BiocRAPniES,  and  Tales,  for  th« 
Instruction  and  Entertainment  of  the  Young.  By  Jacob  Ab- 
bott.   Embellished  with  numerous  and  beautiful  Engravings. 

Terms. — Each  Number  of  "  Harper's  Storj'^  Books"  will  contain 
160  pages  in  small  quarto  form,  very  beautifully  illustrated,  and 
printed  on  superfine  calendered  paper. 

The  Series  may  be  obtained  of  Booksellers,  Periodical  Agents, 
and  Postmasters,  or  from  the  Publishers,  at  Three  Dollars  a  year, 
or  Twenty -five  Cents  a  Number  in  Paper,  or  Forty  Cents  a  Num- 
ber bound  in  Cloth  gilt.  Subscriptions  may  commence  with  any 
Number.  The  Postage  upon  "  Harper's  Story  Books,"  which  must 
be  paid  quarterly  in  advance,  is  Two  Cents.  "Harper's  Magazine" 
and  "  Harper's  Story  Books"  will  be  sent  to  one  Address,  for  one 
year,  for  Five  Dollars. 

The  Quarterly  Volumes,  as  completed,  neatly  bound  in  Cloth  gilt, 
are  sold  at  One  Dollar  each,  and  Muslin  Covers  are  furnished  to 
those  who  wish  to  have  their  back  Numbers  uniformly  bound,  at 
Twenty-five  Cents  each. 

Vol.  I.  Contains  the  first  three  Numbers,  "Bruno,"  "'Willie," 
and  "Strait  Gate." — Vol.  11.  "The  Little  Louvre,"  "Prank,"  and 
"Emma." — Vol.  IH.  "Virginia,"  "Timboo  and  Joliba,"  and  "Tim- 
boo  and  Fanny." — Vol.  IV.  "The  Harper  Establishment,"  "Frank- 
lin," and  "The  Studio." 

They  are  the  best  children's  books  ever  published.  They  wisely  avoid  the  in- 
troduction or  discussion  of  religious  topics,  yet  are  such  as  Christian  parents 
may  unhesitatingly  place  in  their  children's  hands.  The  price  is  marvelously 
low.  Twenty-five  cents  a  number  makes  it  about  six  pages  of  print  and  two  ex- 
cellent engravings  for  eace  cent  of  the  money.  The  engravings  alone,  without  a 
line  of  letter- press,  would  be  cheap  at  the  price.  One  good  thmg  these  Story  Books 
will  certainly  accomplish  :  henceforth  inferior  authorship  and  used-up,  worn  out 
illustrations  can  not  be  palmed  off  on  children.  They  have  samples  here  of  what 
is  best  for  them,  and  they  are  shrewd  enough  not  to  put  up  with  any  thing  of  low- 
er quality. — N.  Y.  Daily  Times. 

We  have  heard  so  many  fathers  and  mothers  who  recognize  the  pleasant  duty 
of  guiding  the  minds  of  their  children  in  the  paths  of  knowledge  at  home,  speak 
in  terms  of  the  highest  commendation  of  thi*  series  of  books  for  children,  that  we 
feel  a  desire  to  see  them  universally  read  among  children.  They  constitute  the 
finest  series  of  books  for  the  young  that  we  have  seen. — Louisville  Courier. 

Who  is  better  qualified  than  Jacob  Abbott  to  prepare  such  a  work  ?  He  always 
seems  to  have  an  intuitive  perception  of  just  what  children  want — ^just  what  will 
take  with  them,  and  so  serve  as  the  medium  of  conveying  instruction  in  the  pleas- 
antest  form.  He  has  begun  this  new  series  admirably,  and  we  almost  envy  the 
relish  with  which  our  children  will  read  it.  Now  for  a  suggestion  to  parents : 
instead  of  buying  your  boy  some  trumpery  toy,  give  him  a  yearns  subscription  to 
this  charming  monthly.  It  will  cost  you  three  dollars,  indeed ;  but  its  excellent 
moral  hints  and  influence,  its  useful  and  entertaining  knowledge,  are  worth  all 
that,  and  much  more.  If  you  think  you  can  not  afford  it  for  one  child,  take  it  fo; 
your  childrerCs  home  circle,  and  let  one  read  it  aloud  to  the  others.  You'll  never 
regret  it.— Christian  Inquirer. 


WOMAN S  RECORD; 

Or,  Sketches  of  all  Distinguished  Women  from  the  Creation  to  the 
Present  Time.  Arranged  in  Four  Eras.  With  Selections  from 
Female  Writers  of  each  Era.  By  Mrs.  Sarah  Josepha  Hale. 
Illustrated  with  230  engraved  Portraits.  Second  Edition,  re- 
vised and  enlarged.  Poyal  8vo,  Muslin,  $3  50 ;  Sheep,  $4  00 ; 
Half  Calf,  $4  25. 

"  Many  years  have  been  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  this  comprehensive  work, 
which  contains  complete  and  accurate  sketches  of  the  most  distinguished  wome* 
in  all  ages,  and,  in  extent  and  thoroughness,  far  surpasses  every  previous  bio. 
graphical  collection  with  a  similar  aim.  Mrs.  Hale  has  ransacked  the  treasures 
of  history  for  information  in  regard  to  the  eminent  women  whom  it  commemor- 
ates ;  few,  if  any,  important  names  are  omitted  in  her  volumes,  while  the  living 
celebrities  of  the  day  are  portrayed  with  justness  and  delicacy.  The  picture  of 
woman's  life,  as  it  has  been  developed  from  the  times  of  the  earliest  traditions  to 
the  present  date,  is  here  displayed  in  vivid  and  impressive  colors,  and  with  a 
living  sympathy  which  could  only  flow  from  a  feminine  pen.  A  judicious  selec- 
tion from  the  writings  of  women  who  have  obtained  distinction  in  the  walks  of 
literature  is  presented,  affording  an  opportunity  for  comparing  the  noblest  produc- 
tions of  the  female  mind,  and  embracing  many  exquisite  gems  of  fancy  and  feel- 
ing. The  biographies  are  illustrated  by  a  series  of  highly-finished  engravings, 
which  form  a  gallery  of  portraits  of  curious  interest  to  the  amateur,  as  well  as  of 
great  historical  value. 

This  massive  volume  furnishes  an  historical  portrait  gallery,  in  which  each  age 
of  this  world  had  its  appropriate  representatives.  Mrs.  Hale  has  succeeded  ad- 
mirably in  her  biographical  sketches. — Philadelphia  Presbyterian. 

"  Woman's  Record"  is,  indeed,  a  noble  study  and  noble  history.  The  sketches 
are  all  carefully  and  even  elegantly  written. — Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin. 

What  lady,  who  takes  a  pride  in  her  sex,  would  not  desire  to  have  this  volume 
on  her  centre-table  1  and  what  husband,  lover,  or  brother  would  leave  such  a  wish 
ungratified. — Washington  Republic. 

This  superb  monument  of  Mrs.  Hale's  indefatigable  devotion  to  her  sex  is  illus- 
trated by  230  portraits,  engraved  in  that  style  of  excellence  that  has  deservedly 
placed  Lossing  at  the  head  of  his  profession. — Philadelphia  Saturday  Courier. 

We  are  pleased  with  the  plan  of  the  "  Record,"  and  with  the  manner  in  which 
that  plan  is  carried  into  execution.  The  book  is  a  valuable  and  permanent  con- 
tribution to  literature. — New  Orleans  Baptist  Chronicle. 

This  work  merits  the  warmest  commendation. — Sun. 

This  is  a  large  and  beautiful  book,  and  covers  the  ground  marked  out  by  the  title 
more  fully  and  satisfactorily  than  any  other  work  extant.  It  is  a  most  valuable 
work. — Southern  Ladies''  Companion. 

Here  we  have  placed  before  us  a  book  that  would  do  credit  to  any  author  or 
compiler  that  ever  lived,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  some,  produced  by  the  head^ 
heart,  and  hand  of  a  woman. — N.  Y.  Daily  Times. 

This  is  a  very  curious  and  very  interesting  work— a  Biographical  Dictionary  of 
all  Distinguished  Females — a  work,  we  believe,  quite  unique  in  the  history  of 
literature.  We  have  only  to  say  that  the  work  will  be  found  both  instructive, 
amusing,  and  generally  impartial. — London  Ladies^  Messenger. 

The  comprehensiveness  of  the  work  renders  it  a  valuable  addition  to  the  library. 
— London  Ladies^  Companion. 

A  Female  Biographical  Dictionary,  which  this  volume  really  is,  will  often  be 
consulted  as  an  authority  ;  and  the  great  extent  of  Mrs.  Hale's  information  as  to 
the  distinguished  women  of  modern  times,  supplies  us  with  a  number  of  facts 
which  we  knew  not  where  to  procure  elsewhere.    It  is  clearly  and  simply  written.- 
^London  Gardian. 


LOSSING'S  PICTORIAL  FIELDBOQK 

Of  the  Revolution ;  or,  Illustrations,  by  Pen  and  Pencil,  of  the  His- 
toiy,  Biography,  Scenery,  Relics,  and  Traditions  of  the  War 
for  Independence.    2  vols.  Royal  8vo,  Muslin,  $8  00 ;  Sheep, 
$9  00;  Half  Calf,  $10  00;  Full  Morocco,  $15  00. 
A  new  and  carefully  revised  edition  of  this  magnificent  work  is  just  completed 
in  two  imperial  octavo  volumes  of  equal  size,  containing  1500  pages  and  1100  en- 
gravings.  As  the  plan,  scope,  and  beauty  of  the  work  were  originally  developed, 
eminent  literary  men,  and  the  leading  presses  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  pronounced  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  historical  productions  ever  issued. 

The  preparation  of  this  work  occupied  the  author  more  than  four  years,  during 
which  he  traveled  nearly  ten  thousand  miles  in  order  to  visit  the  prominent  scenes 
of  revolutionary  history,  gather  up  local  traditions,  and  explore  records  and  his- 
tories. In  the  use  of  his  pencil  he  was  governed  by  the  determination  to  withhold 
nothing  of  importance  or  interest.  Being  himself  both  artist  and  writer,  he  has 
been  able  to  combine  the  materials  he  had  collected  in  both  departments  into  a 
work  possessing  perfect  unity  of  purpose  and  execution. 

The  object  of  the  author  in  arranging  his  plan  was  to  reproduce  the  history  of 
the  American  Revolution  in  such  an  attractive  manner,  as  to  entice  the  youth  of 
his  country  to  read  the  wonderful  story,  study  its  philosophy  and  teachings,  and 
to  become  familiar  with  the  founders  of  our  Republic  and  the  value  of  their  labors. 
In  this  he  has  been  eminently  successful ;  for  the  young  read  the  pages  of  the 
*'  Field-Book"  with  the  same  avidity  as  those  of  a  romance  ;  while  the  abundant 
stores  of  information,  and  the  careful  manner  in  which  it  has  been  arranged  and 
set  forth,  render  it  no  less  attractive  to  the  general  reader  and  the  ripe  scholar  of 
more  mature  years. 

Explanatory  notes  are  profusely  given  upon  every  page  in  the  volume,  and  also 
a  brief  biographical  sketch  of  every  man  distinguished  in  the  events  of  the  Revo, 
iution,  the  history  of  whose  life  is  known. 

A  Supplement  of  forty  pages  contains  a  history  of  the  Naval  Operations  of  the 
Revolution;  of  the  Diplojnacy ;  of  the  Confederation  and  Federal  Constitution; 
the  Prisons  and  Prison  Ships  of  Xew  York ;  Lives  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  other  matters  of  curious  interest  to  the  historical  student. 

A  new  and  very  elaborate  analjaical  index  has  been  prepared,  to  which  we  call 
special  attention.  It  embraces  eighty-five  closely  printed  pages,  and  possesses 
rare  value  for  every  student  of  our  revolutionary  history.  It  is  in  itself  a  com- 
plete synopsis  of  the  history  and  biography  of  that  period,  and  will  be  found  ex- 
ceedingly useful  for  reference  by  every  reader. 

As  a  whole,  the  work  contains  all  the  essential  facts  of  the  early  history  of  our 
Republic,  which  are  scattered  through  scores  of  volumes  often  inaccessible  to  the 
great  mass  of  readers.  The  illustrations  make  the  whole  subject  of  the  American 
Revolution  so  clear  to  the  reader  that,  on  rising  from  its  perusal,  he  feels  thorough- 
ly acquainted,  not  only  with  the  history,  but  with  every  important  locality  made 
memorable  by  the  events  of  the  war  for  Independence,  and  it  forms  a  complete 
Guide-Book  to  the  tourist  seeking  for  fields  consecrated  by  patriotism,  which  lie 
scattered  over  our  broad  land.  Nothing  has  been  spared  to  make  it  complete,  re. 
liable,  and  eminently  useful  to  all  classes  of  citizens.  Upward  of  THIRTY-FIVE 
THOUSAND  DOLLARS  were  expended  in  the  publication  of  the  first  edition. 
The  exquisite  wood-cuts,  engraved  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  author, 
from  his  own  drawings,  in  the  highest  style  of  the  art,  required  the  greatest  care 
in  printing.  To  this  end  the  efforts  of  the  publishers  have  been  directed,  and  we 
take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  these  volumes  as  the  best  specimen  of  typogra- 
phy ever  issued  from  the  American  press. 

The  publication  of  the  work  having  been  commenced  in  numbers  before  it* 
preparation  was  completed,  the  volumes  of  the  first  edition  were  made  quite  un- 
equal in  size.  That  defect  has  been  remedied,  and  the  work  is  now  presented  in 
two  volumes  of  equal  size,  containing  about  780  pages  each. 


